Baguio City – The mayors of Baguio, La Trinidad, Itogon, Sablan, Tuba, and Tublay (BLISTT) discussed Baguio City’s strategy for its re-opening to tourists from Region 1 to clarify the role of the surrounding local government units and the implications on their respective municipalities.
Baguio City Mayor and BLISTT Council Chairman Benjamin Magalong clarified that the City is only opening for tourists from Region 1 and restricting them to guided tour packages to gradually revive the City’s economy but strict health protocols shall continue to be observed and implemented to mitigate the spread of Covid-19.
Mayor Magalong said that the Cordillera Region has suffered a significant economic blow due to the drop in tourism during this pandemic.
Mayors Armando Lauro of Tublay, Manuel Munar of Sablan, and Victorio Palangdan of Itogon were amenable to the controls set by Baguio and expressed their interest in participating later in gradually re-opening the BLISTT to tourism.
Given its role as the primary gateway to Baguio City, the local government of Tuba requested additional manpower from the Baguio City Police to help in managing checkpoints along Marcos Highway and Kennon Road.
Mayor Lauro expressed that eventually tourists should be allowed to tour the rest of the BLISTT area.
Dir. Milagros Rimando, NEDA-CAR Regional Director and head of the BLISTT Secretariat, proposed a BLISTT Tourism Council to better coordinate inter-local tourism efforts in the area, to initially address the re-opening of Baguio City for tourists and later to improve the tourism strategies of the entire BLISTT.
Tourism is seen as a key strategy in restarting the economy after the widespread effects of the pandemic. (OIC Joe Manzano, RPN DZBS Baguio | Marlo Lubguban)