Korean headed to town missing

A KOREAN national who was supposed to buy a piece of land in Dalaguete went missing last Sunday afternoon.

The police identified the foreigner as Kim Young Soo, a resident of Lapu-Lapu City. Senior Insp. Joseph Berondo, the town police chief, said they are investigating the incident.

He refused to reveal details of their investigation.

Januario Entera Palacio, 54, reported to the police that Soo disappeared after an unidentified person offered to be the foreigner’s driver and tour guide to Barangay Mantalongon, where Soo’s wife Mitzie was waiting.

Palacio, in a phone interview, said he learned about Soo’s disappearance from Mitzie.

Mitzie, 22, was staying in Mantalongon for a week, renting a room at the house of Palacio’s aunt last Sunday.

Soo and Mitzie was supposed to meet that day.

The foreigner reportedly communicated with his wife through cellular phone. He was driving a sports utility vehicle.

Palacio said Soo communicated with Mitzie when he failed to locate Mantalongon.

Palacio told Mitzie to instruct her husband to return. The wife later received a message from Soo that a stranger offered to drive him toward Mantalongon.

The stranger was driving fast, Soo texted his wife. That was the last time the couple had contact.

Crackdown

Professional tour guides are calling on government to crack down on non-accredited guides proliferating in major tourist destinations.

Gene Rose Tecson, president of the Philippine Federation of Tour Guides (PFTG), said they have noticed an influx of non-accredited foreign tour guides, especially in Boracay and Manila.

“It’s really a mandate that tour guides get an accreditation. It’s really important. When you drive a car, you need a license. The same goes for tour guides,” she told reporters last Sunday.

Convention

More than 200 tour guides nationwide were in Cebu for a two-day convention. They were welcomed by Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Paz Radaza in the Mactan Liberty Shrine last Sunday.

Tecson lamented that the PFTG often gets the blame for problems created by non-accredited tour guides.

“We are the one who receive the complaints and resolve the problems. What we are asking for is help from the government in terms of regulating the entry of foreign tour guides,” she said.

“We have a code of ethics, so the government must be stricter with non-accredited guides,” she added.

Department of Tourism (DOT) 7 Regional Director Rowena Montecillo said there are non-accredited tour guides in Central Visayas but they are not as many as in other areas.

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