Tourism shift: ‘From Boracay to Cebu’
The Regional Management Council (RMC) 7 of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) will jointly beefing up security measures to protect the traveling public during the Holy Week.
This year, the RMC 7 dubbed the project “Holy Week – Oplan Biyaheng Ayos 2018.”
RMC 7 is composed of DOTr-attached agencies, namely Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), Land Transportation Office (LTO), Cebu Port authority (CPA), Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA), Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) and Philippine Coast Guard-Central Visayas District (PCG-CVD).
LTFRB 7 Director Ahmed Cuizon, who presided over their quarterly meeting yesterday, said that they discussed preparations for a possibly higher influx of tourists in Cebu and Central Visayas in light of environmental concerns in Boracay, a popular beach destination in Malay, Aklan.
“We are working with GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. (GMCAC) as well as with the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) and the Office of Transportation Security (OTS) to ensure that our facilities and services are adequate to cater to more passengers who might divert from Boracay to Cebu,” MCIAA assistant general manager Gleen Napuli said.
Napuli said the airport is beefing up measures in anticipation of more international flights next week.
CAAP spokesman Reynold Veloso also said that the airports in Tagbilaran City and Dumaguete City are preparing for additional passengers during the Holy Week in light of Boracay’s possible closure to tourists.
“Our airport personnel in Tagbilaran and Dumaguete are making sure that facilities are in tip-top share and security is on heightened alert,” Veloso said.
PCG-CVD Deputy Commander Edgar Boado said that they are also preparing of such eventuality.
“For the safety of tourists as well as ordinary passengers, we are monitoring vessel movements with the help of auxiliary groups to check out suspicions elements,” Boado said.
PCG is tagging all registered vessels by assigning them permanent individual numbers to weed out illegal passengers.
For the the PNP, the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 are on a heightened alert starting yesterday as part of its security preparations for the Holy Week.
A team from the Cebu City Po- lice Office (CPPO)-Theft and Robbery Section (TRS), composed of seven investigators, will be deployed to Bantayan as Cebu Citybased thieves are expected to flock to the northern Cebu island, which is a tourist destination during Lent.
Cebu Provincial Police Office Director Edgar Alan Okubo said he suggested to tap TRS personnel, which PRO 7 Director Robert Quenery approved.
The TRS investigators will help CPPO investigators and intelligence operatives in identifying the thieves.