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Friday, March 29, 2024

‘Credit Duterte for tourist growth’

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DAVAO CITY—Mayor Sara Duterte has thanked her father, President Rodrigo Duterte, for boosting tourism for the city, as he became its biggest endorser even before his victory in the 2016 elections.

Since her father won the presidency over a year ago, Mayor Sara said tourist arrivals in Davao have risen, since people “want to witness the President’s ‘Exhibit A’” in governance. 

The President was the city’s mayor for over two decades.

“The tourism office no longer needs to provide a huge budget on promotions for Davao City anymore.  There are an increasing number of local tourist arrivals in the city because Davao is now highlighted as a city to visit in Mindanao,” she said.

For last month’s Kadayawan Festival, the city recorded 185,660 local and foreign tourists who witnessed Davao’s annual fiesta. The number is 8.04 percent higher than the 171,851 tourist arrivals for last year’s Kadayawan.

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City Tourism Operation Office head Regina Rosa Tecson said the 8-percent increase for the month of August itself is a huge success for the city, since Mindanao is still under martial law.

“Considering there is a Mindanao-wide martial law, the increase [of tourist arrivals] is a big success for us. Before the event, we really prayed that we can at least match the same tourist arrivals last year, but we even surpassed those numbers,” Tecson said.

President Rodrigo Duterte and former President Fidel V. Ramos (right) flash the peace sign with employees of the Office of the Presidential Advisor on the Peace Process, which celebrated its 24th anniversary on Sept. 14 at Malacañang Palace. Presidential Photo

Although the city is now being highlighted and has seen more tourists, Mayor Sara said Davao still faces a negative perception from foreign tourists worried about the issue of security in Mindanao.

To counter that, she said the CTOO is working on foreign promotions to showcase the safety and security programs of the city, and encourage these foreigners to visit Davao.

Meanwhile, the Interface Development Interventions has vowed to intervene in the case filed by big banana players questioning the legality of the Watershed Code, particularly on the payment of Davao City’s environmental tax at P0.25 per square meter.

IDIS executive director Chinkie Pelino-Golle said owners of these plantations have been paying the environmental tax to the city since 2014, even as it was under protest.

Golle noted that it was only after six to seven years since the approval of the Davao City Watershed Code in 2007 that the banana plantations paid their environmental tax.

The case is against the city government, but Golle said IDIS will file a motion for intervention to support the city government against plantations who reportedly refused to pay their payment for environmental services.

Four big banana plantations are operating within the city’s Talomo-Lipadas and Panigan-Tamugan watershed area.

Golle said the big banana players have argued that the imposition of the environmental tax is excessive.

She said banana plantations not only wish to invalidate the provision on environmental tax, but to declare the Code as unconstitutional. 

According to IDIS, Section 42 of the Davao City’s Watershed Code mandates the annual collection of environmental tax on all agricultural business operating in agricultural non-tillage and prime agricultural areas of not less than 50 hectares, at the rate of 25 centavos per square meter upon renewal of their business permits.

The environmental tax will be used to fund conservation and rehabilitation of watersheds to mitigate damages posed by businesses operating within the area.

The Watershed Code of Davao City was passed in 2007 during the term of then-mayor Rodrigo Duterte, as it aimed to protect, to manage, and conserve the city’s water resources.

The city has declared 9,570 hectares as conservation area or agricultural, non-tillage areas.

The Code has provided a buffer zone to protect the watershed areas from pesticides. “We in IDIS are disappointed because the Watershed Code of Davao City is being questioned in court,” she said.

IDIS will also be joined by Bantayo Aweg and Bantay Bukid, whose members are also residents in nearby communities but serve as monitors in the area.

Legaspi of Bantay Bukid said his group is backing the city government. He underscored the importance of protecting the rivers to prevent severe flooding not only in their community but those areas in the downstream.

Bantay Bukid is also deputized by the city for the protection of the watershed areas. With PNA

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