Petilla pushes tourism in 3 Leyte towns

ORMOC CITY, Philippines – Governor Carlos Jericho Petilla recently met with the mayors and their tourism officers of three towns in the western part of Leyte and presented them his plan to develop and "sell" their towns as tourism sites where investors would be encouraged to put up hotels.

Those who met with the governor were Mayors Carmen Cari of Baybay, Ramon Onate of Palompon and Silvestre Lumarda of Inopacan, Representatives Lucy Torres Gomez (4th district, Leyte) and Jose Carlos Cari (5th dist., Leyte), and officials of the Visayas State University led by its president Dr. Jose Bacusmo.

Mayor Eric Pajulio of Matalom was also invited but failed to attend the meeting that was held at the Sabin Resort Hotel in this city.

Bacusmo said VSU, which is in Baybay town, is developing itself into a "resort university" to counter the challenge of a national budget cut and for state universities to source funds from income generating projects.

The governor told them his proposal was borne out of the results of a survey the provincial government did about what international tourists want to see in places they visit.

The towns of Palompon, Matalom and Inopacan have "islands to die for," while Baybay has the VSU and is strategically located with vital facilities tourists need, said the governor.

Municipal officials were encouraged to consider the governor's plan because by March or mid-year, the Capitol would go into a massive "selling" campaign in international exhibitions "probably in Hongkong, Macau and China," and to move for the declaration of these towns into tourism economic zones.