THE Cebu Capitol will come up with a Provincial Tourism Code that will address several tourism issues in the province, “including the abuse on our destination.”
Provincial Board (PB) Member Agnes Magpale, who chairs the PB’s committee on tourism, said the tourism code was already in the drawing board but the incident in Lapu-Lapu City, in which four Japanese nationals were caught filming a sex video on an islet atf the Hilutungan channel, prompted them to fast-track the plan.
Today, Magpale will start gathering inputs and suggestions from her committee members.
She hopes to finally come up with the code early next year.
No confusion
Magpale also said that with the code, there will be no more confusion as to what legal basis to be used against erring tourists.
The four Japanese nationals pleaded guilty after they were arrested in Sulpa islet and charged with violation of Article 201 of the Revised Penal Code.
After they were told to pay a fine of P6,000 each, they were set free.
PB Member Victor Maambong, who is a lawyer, had pointed out that Article 201 prohibits presenting indecent shows in public and that violation of Article 200, which penalizes those who violate “decency or good customs by any highly scandalous conduct,” should have been included in the charges against the foreigners.
Training
The Capitol had planned to file separate charges against them but with the development, they can no longer push through with it.
Aside from drafting a code, Magpale said she will also ask the committee on peace and order to conduct trainings for policemen on how to handle cases similar to the Lapu-Lapu incident and on other tourism-related concerns. (MBG)
