FVR hints political color

RPDEV supports Philippines sustainable tourism

SARANGANI (February 20, 2010) – “Vote for the president who will takecare of the young people,” Former President Fidel Valdez Ramos saidmoments before pulling out of his pocket a green wristband that drewhumorous reactions from a crowd of students and provincial employees.Ramos was given a warm welcome by Capitol employees in a short programfor his arrival at the Capitol Friday (February 19).

During the program, Ramos handed over transmittals and turned over library books to Governor Migs Dominguez and two high schools in the province’s capital town from the Ramos Peace and DevelopmentFoundation, Incorporated (RPDEV).

Ramos was back in the province after three years for a weekend visitand to grace the Philippine Conference on Eco-tourism andEco-productivity seminar-workshop in Lemlunay Dive Resort, Maasimtown, as keynote speaker.

Ramos is chairman of the RPDEV, a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of peace and development in the Philippines and is opening the year with a continuing series of conferences onsustainable tourism development across the country.

“Your abundant resources are just in place. All you have to do is toenhance them,” Ramos said in his keynote speech at the conference.Ramos said the tuna industry is not the hope of Sarangani and GeneralSantos City, but tourism and agriculture.Ramos recalled the Filipino cultural traits and ingenuous ways ofcaring, sharing and daring particularly on interfaith understanding inMuslim Mindanao in achieving lasting peace.“Security is everybody’s job,” Ramos said.

For his part, Governor Dominguez pointed out that “Sarangani owes alot of its development from President Ramos. It was during his timewhen Sarangani was created as a province.”

At the courtesy meeting, Dominguez showed the former President amarker of the construction of the 170-km national highway in Sarangani funded by the United States Agency for International Development during Ramos time.

Dominguez, now on his second term of office as governor, capitalizes on human resource through education while tapping the province’snatural resources through eco-tourism as Sarangani’s edge for globalcompetitiveness.

“Marami ang naiinggit sa Sarangani (Many envies Sarangani),” Ramos said. “You are a rich province because you have enough in lifes tarting with education and harmony between the Christians and the Muslims.” “There is a natural eco-tourism policy, a sustainable tourism that is neither destructive nor corruptive. You must be united to take actionand dare to make a difference,” Ramos said.

Dubbed “Eco-Mismo”, the RPDEV project aims to help various locales inthe country position themselves as top eco-tourism destinations andshare best practices in eco-productivity.

“Tourism must be included in the Regional Development Plan,” said Dr.Jose Ma. Lorenzo Tan, one of the conference speakers. Tan is ChiefExecutive Officer of the World Wildlife Fund.

At the workshop, participants talked about investment promotion,tourism product development, and the preservation of the province’snatural and cultural heritage. Resource speakers discussed relevant themes on climate change and tourism, the role of government andprivate organizations in eco-tourism development and the current stateof tourism in Sarangani. (Russtum G. Pelima/SARANGANI INFORMATIONOFFICE)