Cebu province’s first lady Jobella Davide’s is paying her way to join the Suroy Suroy Sugbo, conduct worth emulating by public officials and their posses, especially those who feel entitled to the perks of being in power.
The governor’s wife also paid for her driver the cost of a P13,000 or so package tour which other guests, mostly balikbayans here for the Sinulog, shell out for the caravan, a showcase of rural tourism.
This is the second time the Suroy Suroy Sugbo, under a new administration and corrected program, will explore south Cebu with an emphasis on the scenery, culture and heritage of the destination, minus any VIP “emperatriz” treatment for vain leaders.
There’s much to see – the Mantayupan Falls, blue waters of Sumilon Island off Oslob town, Augustinian stone churches in Boljoon, Argao and Sibonga towns to name a few.
Auditors made it clear that the program run during the term of then governor Gwendolyn Garcia was weighed down by freeloaders and questionable expenses like expensive bottles of wine that in the end didn’t generate funds for the province and had participating towns complaining about the cost of hosting a visit.
As the Commission on Audit reported, the costs hovered well above P10 million while earnings stood at around P3 million only.
Suroy Suroy also got too politicized. In 2010, it morphed into an early campaign sortie for former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s anointed presidentiable, Gilberto Teodoro.
The Suroy Suroy program was a great idea that opened up shy, quiet towns to tourism and boosted the pride of Cebu’s countryside residents. It couldn’t sustain itself, however, with the manner it was executed with decisions driven by political ego in the choice of crammed itineraries to satisfy this or that loyal mayor instead of market demands and a clear customer-focus of what a visitor wants to experience at his or her own pace.
The new program, guided this time by seasoned industry practitioners tapped by Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale, is a chance to fully maximize its potential.
Keeping the sponsored seats in the tour for useful guests like tour guides and travel writers is a step in the right direction by Gov. Hilario Davide III. His wife’s example is more in keeping with the low key style of Singaporean statesman Lee Kuan Yew who travels modestly, or with Pope Francis, who ditched the popemobile for a simple car.
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