Everyone pays during Suroy

CEBU, Philippines - The Suroy-Suroy Sugbo Southern Heritage Trail is set tomorrow until Friday, with the Capitol strictly observing the "no very important person (VIP)" policy in staging the tourism program.

"Kinahanglan gyud tanan mobayad (Everyone must pay)…. No non-paying guests," said Cebu Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale.

Even she had to pay P14,000 as payment for the tour's "full package."

The Province's Public Information Office is checking if Gov. Hilario Davide III needs to pay, as he would only attend the first stop in Carcar City from 8:15 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.

Davide needs to go back to the Capitol after Carcar since he has several appointments and a courtesy call with the "People's Champ" Manny Pacquiao on Thursday.

Pacquiao is also set to visit the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center with the governor the same day.

Davide's wife, Jobel, is joining the Suroy Suroy, but is paying for the P12,000 to P13,000 tour package. The packages set for Suroy-Suroy Sugbo range from P7,000 to P14, 000.

Magpale earlier said the Capitol would minimize expenses for food and limit the number of non-paying guests, whom she said outnumbered those who paid in previous years.

This was after the Commission on Audit (COA) last year questioned the expenses of Suroy-Suroy Sugbo for 2012, which reached P11.46 million even when the budget allocation was just P10.7 million.

The Cebu Provincial Board (PB) has approved a P5-million allocation for the Suroy-Suroy Sugbo in 2014, which is bigger compared to last year's P3 million.

Of the amount, P2 million is for travelling expenses, P10,000 is identified as subsidy to each of the local government units participating in the program, and advertising and rent expenses is budgeted P600,000.

The destinations include the cities of Talisay and Carcar, and the towns of Barili, Alcantara, Badian, Moalboal, Samboan, Sumilon, Oslob, Santander, Boljoon, Dalaguete, Argao, and Sibonga.

Suroy-Suroy was first launched in 2005 by the Balik Cebu Group as part of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry's Cebu Business Month celebration.

It was later adopted as a Provincial tourism project during the time of former governor now Third District Representative Gwendolyn Garcia.

It was institutionalized by the present administration through an ordinance authored by PB Member Arleigh Jay Sitoy.

The ordinance provides for a trust fund where all revenue collected from the program should be deposited. (FREEMAN)