BORONGAN CITY—Eastern Samar is undoubtedly one of the country’s most beautiful provinces, with each town having a spot that can lure the tourists, but for ages, the province could not capitalize on it.
The beautiful coastlines, magnificent falls, forest canopies and its unique place in Philippine history all come on a backdrop of widespread poverty where almost half of its population are poor.
For years, Eastern Samar’s economy mainly relied on agriculture as its main economic driver, overlooking its capability to create local industries that could provide more jobs to its people.
Opportunities in tourism sector is lost as each municipality makes its own tourism plan, competing against each other for the meager number of tourists coming in.
On November 3 the provincial government launched the Eastern Samar tourism road map that will not only harmonize tourism plans of all municipalities but also identify areas for investment, opportunities to create livelihood for the people and set a direction that will make tourism a main economic driver in the development of the province.
“We will no longer rely on agriculture alone to hasten economic growth of the province, but will have tourism as an economic driver as well,” Eastern Samar acting Gov. Marcelo Ferdinand Picardal said.
He added that, under his watch, the priority of the provincial government will be to create livelihood opportunities as a means to reduce poverty from 46.3 percent in 2015 to 25 percent in the next three to five years.
“This is a tall order, but I’m determined to do that,” Picardal said at the launch of the provincial tourism road map. “Getting out of poverty has long been a dream of many Eastern Samareños. The realization of that dream is long overdue.”
“I want to see more Eastern Samareños earning more, through employment or by engaging in livelihoods either as farmers of high-value crops, as seaweed producers or as entrepreneurs adding value to local produce and creating jobs for our people,” he added.
Picardal said, in creating livelihood opportunities, the province can start with its resource base: “vast unoptimized lands, a long coastline fronting the Pacific, beautiful destinations for tourists and a lot of human resources.”
“As governor, I want more public investments in agriculture, fishery, trainings and education that link to industry demands and, of course, tourism,” he added.
Picardal said that, while Eastern Samar is poor, it is also rich in natural resources and has a meaningful and significant history, as well as a rich cultural heritage.
“The challenge now is to transform this potential into an industry that can drive the economy, create livelihoods, build networks and convergences, inspire our people and our visitors and uplift the quality of life of our citizenry,” he said.