Aksyon Demokratiko standard bearer Isko Moreno Domagoso has vowed that if elected, he will support and promote the tourism industry in Quirino province to spread growth and progress in the countryside and speed up the country’s recovery from the impact of the two-year Covid-19 pandemic.
“I want to make them feel that right now, I’m studying, I’m trying to know their status. For example, Mayor (Nieverose) Meneses, said they need tourists, just a little help with the fund. They already have a plan, they already have an idea.
They just need a little help with the funds, they need a little support from the national government,” Moreno told reporters after a town hall meeting in Nagtipunan town.
“If these things can create jobs and opportunities, then it is in line with our goals and aspirations. Me and Doc Willie (Ong), in our first two years, will give priority to life and livelihood. And this will be supported as a matter of compromise and promise and commitment to the Quirino people especially here in the area where we are,” Moreno said.
During the town hall meeting, Moreno was warmly welcomed by Mayor Nieverose Meneses, where the 47-year-old presidential candidate was treated to modern and native dances and video presentations of the town and the province’s many tourist attractions.
“When Yorme sees our proud Landingan Viewpoint, he will be amazed and he will definitely help Quirino when it comes to tourism,” said Meneses, who is also a member of the Bugkalot tribe of the said town.
Also found in Nagtipunan are the 50-meter high Mactol Falls, the “Bimmapor,” a rock formation similar to a sunken ship, of which only the upper decks are protruding from the ground, and the Pusuac cave and watershed, among others. Even the town’s municipal hall is listed as a tourist spot.
Like in all tourist spots across the country, Nagtipunan’s tourism industry was badly affected by the pandemic, leading to loss of jobs and livelihood. The easing of travel restrictions, in the country and across the world, has given hope for the revival of the industry and bring in desperately needed jobs and livelihood to Filipinos.
Tourism sector is one of the main pillars of Moreno’s 10-point Bilis Kilos Economic Agenda which is his blueprint to hasten human and economic growth in the six years of his term once elected.
Prior to the pandemic, the sector has contributed 12.7 percent to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) with about 5.4 million Filipinos getting their livelihood from the tourism industry.
Under Moreno’s Economic Agenda, the building of tourism highways and development of tourism circuits will be prioritized along with the promotion of sustainable tourism and event-based tourism.
A major part of his accelerated infrastructure program is to prioritize equitable growth, thus infusing more infrastructure development in areas or provinces with low human development index (HDI) to bring about a more inclusive economic growth.
Thus, Moreno said tourism development will focus on lesser-known and under-developed tourist spots in the country to enhance countryside development.
“Like what I’ve been always telling before, a peso spent in Metro Manila will not bring us any addition to our economic development because of the Law of Diminishing Returns. However, the same peso spent in the far-flung areas can create more jobs and opportunities,” explained Moreno.
“The same thing, Baguio can be duplicated in Quirino. There is another one in Bataan, Zambales, Tarlac, it looks like Baguio, I haven’t been there yet. So, if we create those sites, we can visit a lot. So our dream of 16 million tourists (by 2028) is not impossible. It is difficult to do but it is not impossible because the Philippines has a big advantage,” Moreno said.
The Manila city mayor, however, stressed that all infrastructure and economic developments will be implemented only after a thorough consultation with the people in line with his North Star of “Tao ang una.”
“If we can afford it, we may have other things they will need based on what they said. Because I don’t want to lead them, maybe because I thought something didn’t fit their needs,” Moreno said.
“As long as I tell you, we will make you feel, God has mercy, I will make our countrymen, Mindanao, Visayas, Luzon, feel the equality of the people,” Moreno said.