By Marilou Guieb / Correspondent
CORDILLERA Tourism Regional Director Marie Venus Tan is painting the town not just red, but in rainbow colors.
A day apart of each other, Tan rendered the first strokes of coloring her turf in delightful hues.
January 27 saw the launch of Tan’s Favela-inspired project, in partnership with Davies Paint, to turn the facades of the clusters of houses in Barangay Botiwtiw, La Trinidad—better known as Stonehill—into a mural of sunflowers and a rainbow arch.
The day before, Tan signed a contract with Boysen Paints to brighten up the overpasses in some of Baguio’s main thoroughfares. In the memorandum of agreement, Boysen Paints committed to paint six pedestrian overpasses on Harrison Road, Abanao/Harrison Intersection and Magsaysay Avenue as identified by DOT-Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) and/or the city government.
Aside from providing all the paint materials and determining the paint-color schemes and thematic designs, Boysen Paints will also extend to Rev-Bloom-registered establishments a 15-percent discount on market prices of Titan Paints within a six-month promotional period.
The memorandum of agreement was signed by Tan; Vice President for Marketing of Boysen Paints Ruben Cueto; and Baguio City Mayor Mauricio Domogan.
It tasks Boysen Paints to sustain improvements in progression on a regular basis. Also, Boysen Paints has agreed to pay for taxes that may arise from the MOA.
The DOT agreed to supervise the project and undertake advertisement, communication and promotions mileage to include sponsors and partners relative to the project. The agency will also partner with Boysen in improving the projects on a regular basis. The DOT-CAR, together with the city government through the City Buildings and Architecture Office, will review and approve the designs proposed by Boysen Paints before the actual painting is carried out. The MOA is valid for five years.
Boysen Paints adopted the project as part of its corporate social responsibility to help the DOT-CAR push its urban-rehabilitation program and boost the city’s declining tourism competetiveness. This, the DOT plans to achieve by reblooming and regreening the BLISTT area, namely, Baguio, La Trinidad, Itogon, Sablan, Tuba and Tublay in Benguet.
Rev-Bloom Baguio is a tourism drive of Tan, which connotes “Revving Up, Revive, Revisit and Revitalize” the city through green projects that stimulate the reblooming and regreening of Baguio. It is a strategy undertaken by the DOT-CAR to comply with the comprehensive planning and development thrust for Baguio and Boracay under a presidential memorandum issued by President Aquino on March 26, 2012.
The technical working group created by this order assigned the DOT as a coordinating agency to work with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of the Interior and Local Government, and the Department of Justice.