Groundbreaking ceremony for the Tourist Rest Area in Carcar City, Cebu on December 17, 2022. | Photo from Department of Tourism – Philippines / Facebook
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu’s Tourist Rest Area (TRA) in the southern portion will soon rise in Carcar City and Moalboal town.
The Department of Tourism (DOT) and local officials here broke ground on the upcoming TRA sites in the two localities last Saturday, Dec. 17.
Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco led the groundbreaking ceremonies together with Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, Carcar City Mayor Mario Patricio Barcenas, and Moalboal Mayor Inocentes Cabaron.
Also present during Saturday’s events were DOT executives, Assistant Secretaries Ferdinand Jumapao and Kristine Vanessa Chiong-Genegobis, and other local officials in Cebu including 1st District Rep. Rhea Mae Gullas, 2nd District Provincial Board Member Raymond Calderon, and Talisay City Mayor Gerald Anthony ‘Samsam’ Gullas.
Following the groundbreaking, the DOT entered into a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the provincial government and local governments of Carcar City and Moalboal.
In the MOA, the DOT, its infrastructure arm Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA), and the local governments agreed to share responsibilities in establishing and maintaining the TRAs.
According to Frasco, they decided to put up the last two remaining TRAs for Cebu in Carcar City and Moalboal since these are key, strategic locations for tourists.
Prior to Saturday’s groundbreaking activities, Frasco said they had conducted consultations with various stakeholders. In one of their meetings, she added that they requested for the government to put a tourist area in Carcar City in southeast Cebu.
“One of the things that was asked of us was to put a rest area for tourist here in Carcar, which really is the gateway to the southeast and the southwest of Cebu,” said Frasco.
The same goes with Moalboal town in southwestern Cebu, which they described as a ‘diving haven.’
Carcar City is dubbed as Cebu’s heritage city, owing to restored and preserved colonial buildings while Moalboal hosts various diving spots and activities such as sardine run.
It can be recalled that the DOT planned to put up four TRAs in Cebu. The department had already broken ground for two TRAs in the northern part – in Medellin and Carmen.
The national government has set aside funds amounting to P7 million for each tourist area in Cebu.
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