iSIQUIJOR Information is our business.
THE OFFICIAL E-NEWSLETTER OF THE PHILIPPINE INFORMATION AGENCY - SIQUIJOR | WWW.PIA.GOV.PH and the DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY - SIQUIJOR | WWW.DOST.GOV.PH VOL. 3 | NO. 37 October 25-31, 2015
First Infotourism Adventure race successful in Siquijor
November 2 (PIA) – The first Infotourism Adventure race in Siquijor was successfully held with participants from local and national government agencies regionwide. Almost 100 information and tourism officers joined this year ’s Regional Association of Development Information Officers (RADIO) Convention which was conducted as an Infotourism Adventure race. “Instead of the indoor usual convention, we came up with letting the information officers with tourism officers learn skills in an adventure race,” said Philippine Information Agency (PIA-7) Regional Director Minerva Newman. PIA is the secretariat of RADIO which is the umbrella organization of public information officer networks f r o m t h e p r o v i n c e s o f S i q u i j o r, Cebu, Dumaguete, and Bohol. This year’s theme is “Bridging Information Gap in Tourism through Social Media” which, she said, is timely due to the increasing value of using the Internet in almost all communication needs. It is the second time that RADIO involved the tourism officers in its gathering because of the government’s thrust in investing and promoting the country’s tourism industry. “We marry the learning of journalism skills as well as promoting features of Siquijor in a race,” Newman said. Concept director Vince Escario, tourism consultant of Bantayan Municipality, was tapped by PIA-7 and RADIO to come up with the different c h a l l e n g e s s h o w c a s i n g S i q u i j o r. During the race, seven groups underwent eight challenges the entire day. These involve the following, namely: sack race; swim race in Capilay Spring in Poblacion, San Juan town; production of “lana”, native oil in barangay San Antonio, Siquijor town; cooking lunch at Triad CAFÉ, Larena town; native bread making in Enrique town; mangrove planting in Salagdoong; selfie or groufie in Cambogahay falls; and group photo at the Balete Tree. Selected bloggers under the Cebu Blogging Community (CBC) led by CBC lead Chanel Imperial served as the blogger mentors of the groups.
(Left above) Pedro Samson, Provincial Administrator of the Province of Siquijor delivering his welcome message on behalf of Gov. Zaldy S. Villa who was on official travel during the 2nd Regional Association of Development Information Officers in region 7 (RADIO-7) and #InfoTourismAdventureRace at Coco Grove Bech Resort, San Juan, Siquijor. The provincial government and its six municipal government units (LGUs) also sponsored the event. Photo below also shows Atty. Maria Jane Paredes, Smart Public Affairs Vismin Senior Manager sharing “Smart Communication on Social Media & Tourism: The Smart Way.” Gretchem Ybarrita, information officer of San Jose, Negros Oriental said the experience was one of a kind. “I learned a lot not only in how to swim because I swam for my team, but to ask for details and come up with a simple write-up to promote the place,” Ybarrita said. The bloggers for their part found the lack of internet signal as one of the
major challenges in meeting the task of producing a blog for the final day. The delegates plan to adopt the blogs and the race in their respective localities. RADIO delegates were hosted in the eight hectare Coco Grove Resort in Barangay San Juan, Siquijor. (rmn/fcc/PIA7-Cebu)