WE RENDER salute to our doctors, nurses, other health workers, the policemen, the military, and the volunteers because they are at the frontline facing the treacherous and unseen enemies. In our appreciation, we would like also to include the best effort of our tourism officers who stood their ground.
In normal times, the main function of the tourism officers is to organize events and activities that will promote the local culture and tourism attractions of their local government units. They take good care of local and foreign tourists visiting their areas.
Tourism officers are mandated to facilitate the safe, convenient and comfortable stay of tourists as well as the provision of hospitable reception and protected mobility. As needed, they assign tour guides to official visitors and other requesting parties.
The tourism officers have also the function to meet the tourists, VIPs and other visitors at the airport, seaport, bus terminal and see them off upon departure. When the World Health Organization declared that Covid-19 is already pandemic, many visitors were still arriving in Negros Occidental.
Problems started to pour in particularly when there was already irregularity in the arrival and departure of commercial planes and ocean vessels. Many of Negros delegates were in Luzon attending the National Festival of Talents, National Press Conference and other government-sponsored seminars.
LGUs in Luzon declared enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) but later on Western Visayas followed and our inter-agency task forces in Negros imposed strict implementation after the meeting of Gov. Bong Lacson with the mayors.
Dr. Jenny Cordero, the acting provincial tourism officer, mobilized all town and city tourism officers to submit to the province the list of local and foreign tourists who have been stranded in their LGUs. There was also quick response from the mayors on the proper things to be done.
All moves were coordinated with the Provincial Health Office, town and city health offices and the inter-agency task forces with the assistance of the DRRM. Sandra Sycip, Bacolod tourism officer, quickly gathered the list of local and foreign tourists who are staying in the hotels so that she has her basis on finding means for their safe return.
Tourism officer Jerick Lacson of Sipalay facilitated the needs of hundreds of foreign tourists in Sipalay who also have hundreds of concerns. Helen Cutillar of Sagay has to accommodate some visitors who have to cut short their visit. Gerle Sulmaca has to attend the needs of medical representatives who seek help so that they can go back to Pampanga.
Other tourism officers in towns and cities are also doing the same. They are coordinating with the point persons of the Barangay Tourism Council to get the accurate number of tourists who are still in the barangays. From the list, plans are made by the Office of the Mayor on how to communicate properly to the mayors where the stranded tourists came from.
Monitoring arriving passengers at Silay Airport is not easy. Dr. Jenny Cordero and her staff together with CAAP staff should be there to segregate passengers based on their destination in Western Visayas. DRRM personnel have to be there to sort out PUMs and PUIs.
The provincial government has identified Mambukal Summer Resort to those who would be quarantined. Other LGUs are also having their own quarantine facilities. Those who are under house quarantine are assigned a barangay tanod to see to it that their quarantine period is really fourteen days.
The work of the tourism officers does not end with the declaration of Gov. Bong Lacson that Negros Occidental is under Enhanced Community Quarantine. Tourism officers still have to check on how many tourists are still in their LGUs. They have to make updated reports to their mayors so that the inter-agency task forces could have their proper disposition.
We are proud of our tourism officers. In this battle for Covid-19, they also go out of their shells and take the risk. Work hard but stay alive. After this pandemic, we still have many things to do in our province, “the land of sweet surprises”. Abanse Negrense!