Tourism ek-ek, again
BY PET MELLIZA/ THE BEEKEEPER
Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog does it right by just
taking in stride Iloilo Gov.
Arthur D. Defensor’s remark.
The media blew up the governor’s commentary as derogatory of the city.
Mabilog’s mouthpiece Jefrey Celiz took that as declaration
of war and tersely reminded Defensor he had already too much to handle in the
province itself. Mind your own business, Celiz snorted in effect.
Defensor merely called a spade a spade: neither the city nor province has
sufficient infrastructure to cater to large tourist arrivals, although the governor
took more time to dig at the city for its perennial problems like insufficient
potable water supply and sanitation.
The problem is not Defensor but the overly sensitive ear
that refuses to listen to the wisdom behind his candid remark.
Defensor is just unfortunate that Mabilog has the likes of
Jefrey Celiz who considers it mortal sin and brooks no second thought to growl
at anyone who, well pardon this repetition, calls a spade a spade.
Mabilog’s apologists like tourism officer Ben Jimena happens to define “success” in
tourism to mean hordes of foreign tourists swarming on Iloilo.
So what if Iloilo’s share in foreign tourism is miniscule?
Let’s learn our history and take a look at our present.
Iloilo Province has never been a tourist destination yet it is the premier
province in W. Visayas and contributes as much as Cebu Province to national
growth.
Iloilo City likewise is not known to attract hordes of foreign
tourists and its growth never depended on international tourism, yet it was and
still is W. Visayas’s premier urban area. We are not surprised to encounter
Cebuano-speaking residents, mostly from Cebu, employed in Iloilo City, which
means, there is growth and jobs in the city despite low foreign tourist
arrivals.
Iloilo’s strength comes from within: it is the country’s 3rd
largest rice producer and is the biggest source of hogs shipped to Metro
Manila, the rest of the Visayas and Mindanao. Swine farming is Iloilo’s single
biggest economic activity, next to rice.
Iloilo is still a big success in tourism despite the dearth
of foreign tourists. And its strength, as a Tai Chi adage goes, “lies from
within” that adverse external
events can’t dislodge it like what nearly crippled Boracay Island in 1997 when
the “Asian economic flu” exploded and cut down tourist arrivals.
It sounds paradoxical: Iloilo has a booming tourism economy even
if few foreigners arrived. The reason is, again, its strength lies from within.
The city and province possess a strong “domestic tourism” tradition. Unique
Ilonggo cuisine continues to be patronized by fellow Ilonggos and Filipinos
from other regions.
Iloilo remains a favorite venue of national conventions of
both government agencies and private companies owing to hotel accommodations
that are reasonably priced. They pick Iloilo because in between schedules or
after conferences, the guests can repair to restaurants to relish Ilonggo
delicacies, or fan out to stores for Ilonggo pastries, that again, are unique
in the Philippines.
Absence of foreign tourists does not bother beach-resort
owners of southern Iloilo because fellow Ilonggos patronize them. Philippine
Coconut Authority (PCA) trustee and southern Iloilo partriarch Oscar Garin, Sr.
can attest to that.
Iloilo City is home to schools that balloon its population
in school days giving life to downstream businesses (boarding houses, eateries,
transport, etc.).
To the contrary, it is the obsession to convert Iloilo City
into one single hotel for foreign tourism that bothers us, the gradual death of
Iloilo River (actually an arm of the sea and not a “river”) for tourism sake.
Iloilo River used to be the hub of Ilonggo economy that
earned it the moniker “Queen City of the South”. It was a bustling entrepot and
premier wharf outside Manila. Its banks hosted ship building facilities, dry
docks, fish canneries, an automobile assembly plant, a tire factory, and rows
of bodegas and ice plants.
Where are they now? Gone. Fishing boat operators migrated to
Roxas City, Capiz. With their departure, the last ice plant at the port shut down. Joe Borres, owner
of a fleet of steel-hulled boats, rued they were evicted because Iloilo River was
being infected by a virus called “tourism ek-ek.”
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