Tourism stakeholders in Cebu province were reminded to conduct safety checks on their facilities following yesterday’s accident that injured four Chinese visitors in a resort in Oslob town, southern Cebu.
In its report, the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) identified the Chinese tourists as 72-year-old Pan Ze Xi, 60-year-old Pan Xue Ding, 40-year-old Pan Wan Hua and 32-year-old Ling Ni Dong.
The victims reportedly arrived at the resort situated on a cliff after a whale watching activity at 8 am yesterday.
PDRRMO chief Baltazar Tribunalo said the victims reportedly asked the resort staff to let them ride the wooden baggage lift in going down the cliff beside the main road.
But the wooden lift collapsed under the weight of the four tourists who sustained fractures in their legs and ribs and lacerations on their feet.
They were brought to the Oslob District Hospital and later transferred to a private hospital in Mandaue City.
“The resort is not accredited by DOT and I don’t think they applied for accreditation. While this is an isolated case for now, any bad incident regardless if big or small will really make us look bad,”
Regional Director Shalimar Tamano of the Department of Tourism (DOT-7) said. Tamano said they will investigate the incident.
“We will see what really happened. We will be monitoring this closely,” he said.
Tamano said both owners and the local government should avoid complacency when it comes to ensuring the safety of their visitors.