Previous
Next

Local government units may be familiar with creating a vision but achieving this proves to be much more difficult. For eight local government units (LGUs) under the seventh congressional district of Cebu, coming together and determining an appropriate strategy to achieve a shared vision for the district was a first.

The local chief executives and focal teams of the eight LGUs, along with the district’s Provincial Board Members and Rep. Peter Calderon, set their minds to the challenge of achieving a district-wide vision and strategy last June 5 to 7, 2018 at the Montebello Villa Hotel.

Members of the Integrated Area Development Program of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. (RAFI-IAD) and representatives from various Cebu Provincial Government departments helped facilitate and serve as resource persons.

Gov. Hilario P. Davide III opened the first day of the workshop, encouraging participants to continue to develop the localities’ main industries and to understand their shortcomings and weaknesses in order to open new opportunities for constituents. Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale, also the chairperson of the Cebu Tourism Council, welcomed the participants on the second day.

Agriculture and tourism have been identified in previous workshops as the district’s economic drivers. The LGUs compiled relevant data about these sectors to analyze and decide on future developments.

During the workshop, the agreed on this unified vision — for the seventh district to become the center sustainable tourism destination by 2028 through focusing on the development of ecotourism sites in the short-term (one to three years), adventure-based tourism sites in the medium-term (three to five years), and agritourism sites in the long-term (five to 10 years).

With the vision and strategy initially formulated and agreed on, the group formed a technical working group (TWG) to further detail the strategy. For two months, the TWG will work on identifying the District’s current gaps and formulating potential strategic initiatives to push development closer to its vision.

The group also identified the need to cascade the vision to the rest of the municipal employees and tourism frontliners to gain their buy-in and create a brand to unify the district behind the vision.

Finally, the groups decided to sign a memorandum of agreement (MOA) by September 18, the third anniversary of the district’s creation, to formalize inter-local cooperation between the eight LGUs, the district’s two Provincial Board Members, and Calderon.

The seventh congressional district of Cebu includes the LGUs of Alcantara, Alegria, Badian, Dumanjug, Ginatilan, Malabuyoc, Moalboal, and Ronda.

The Integrated Area Development Program of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. (RAFI-IAD) provides Local Government Units (LGUs) with technical assistance towards socio-economic development.