NEGROS ORIENTAL, June 3 (PIA) -- Classified as a highly agricultural province, Negros Oriental is also teeming with natural attractions and sights that entice tourists to visit the place, however, the Covid-19 global pandemic has put the province's tourism to a grinding halt.
“Tourism is dead in Negros Oriental,” lamented Gov. Roel Degamo, especially when the lockdown was implemented under the enhanced community quarantine.
As restrictions are being eased under the general community quarantine status, Degamo said he wants to open domestic tourism to slowly resume economic activities in the province, so people whose livelihood are dependent on tourism can now return to earning a living.
“I have instructed the provincial tourism unit to coordinate with other tourism units in Central Visayas on how we can begin opening domestic tourism only,” said Degamo during the Network Briefing program on Covid-19 hosted by Sec. Martin Adanar of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO).
Degamo said he is pushing to open tourism for domestic visitors only and not for foreign tourists, as the Covid-19 crisis continues to plague governments worldwide, hoping to find a vaccine as early as possible.
“It’s time to slowly bring the luster back to the tourism industry. As long as we ensure that protocols are in place to guarantee the safety of tourists and prevent local transmission from happening,” said Degamo.
Degamo lauded residents of the island for their compliance to minimum health standards, which contributed to the non-rise of Covid-19 cases in the province.
“Majority of the residents obey the provincial executive order and other guidelines because they are also afraid of contracting the virus. If there are non-compliant, these are only a few,” said Degamo.
In the early part of the crisis, the province registered 13 cases, of which two have died and another two recovered while the rest remain active cases but are asymptomatic, said Degamo.
“But for two and half months, we had zero cases,” revealed the governor.
Amid a national directive to welcome back locally stranded individuals (LSIs), new Covid-19 cases started to register in the province that started in the boat coming from Palawan, whose captain was infected and was transmitted to some of the passengers, said Degamo.
Additional three new cases were reported last night, and these LSIs came from Manila and Cebu, further said the governor.
But all positive cases were already contained and proper isolation procedures were followed, assured Degamo.
Enhance Agricultural Productivity
Because the province is highly dependent on their internal revenue allotment to finance and sustain projects and services, Degamo said one major initiative he is doing is to realign funds to enhance agricultural productivity and ensure food availability to the 1.5 million residents of the province.
“Without the availability of a vaccine to fight Covid, we need to survive, and this is why we are closely working on improving agricultural productivity,” said Degamo.
The governor said they have distributed seeds to the different farmers’ cooperatives to improve rice and corn harvests, among other commodities.
With vast fertile lands, the province’s primary crops planted are corn, rice, coconut and sugarcane, while in coastal areas, fishing is the main source of livelihood.
Popularly called as the “Sugar Island” of Central Visayas, Degamo said he did not cease the operations of the Sugar Central Negros Oriental even with the lockdown.
“Sugar Central is a top industrial plant and this is also timely (with the GCQ) and with the start of the milling season, its operations must continue,” said Degamo.
To defeat the virus, the governor appealed to his constituents to merely follow health protocols and the guidelines because it is for their own good and that their local government continues to work hard for their common good.
The Network Briefing of the PCOO is a program that aims to highlight the initiatives of local governments to address the Covid-19 pandemic on the health and economic aspects, especially as restrictions are slowly being relaxed in most parts of the country. (fcr/PIA7)
Source: Philippines Information Agency (pia.gov.ph)
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