INTRAMUROS, Manila – Senator Mar Roxas was among the guests on Sunday night (December 5) during the culminating gala presentation of Eastern Samar in line with the WOW Philippines festival currently going on at Clamshell 1, Intramuros, Manila.

Sen. Roxas called the Eastern Samar contingent led by Gov. Ben Evardone, Congressman Marcelino Libanan and other elected government officials as the toughies, explaining that the contingent is led by top caliber personalities not just in their hometown but likewise in Congress.

“Basically, the Eastern Samar delegation is power-packed,” Sen. Roxas said. “Si Congressman Libanan kung di niyo pa alam ay pinaka siga sa lahat ng mga kongresista at senador na nasa Commission on Appointments, at ang inyong gobernador ang isa sa mga pinakakapitagan na government official dito sa Manila kung saan ang tawag sa kanya ditto ay si Governor Always Done,” the senator said.

Eastern Samar Day was on the third day of the daily provincial and city festival being held at Clamshell 1 here, and the guests and visitors were entertained with music and dances depicting the rich culture and history o-f the province.

Governor Evardone emphasized in his message the potential of Eastern Samar relative to its tourism viability, pointing out that the beauty of Calicuan Island can even surpass the popularity of Boracay beaches.

The Boracay case is actually a lesson for us. We all know that the fact that it is ran and operated by private companies, thus the influx of visitors in the site was not controlled, hence the delegation of the beaches in Boracay,” Gov. Evardone said.

He explain that in Calicuan, the government is laying its hand on the development of the place, to be able to maintain and preserve the natural beauty of the place and avoid degradation as what is happening to the Boracay beaches.

On the other hand, Congressman Libanan urged the DOT to lay out a full promotional tourism package for tourism areas located outside Metro Manila. He praised the WOW Philippines, a brainchild project of Sen. Richard Gordon, as a wonderful avenue to showcase the tourism destinations in the provinces right at the National Capital Region.

“This, however, should be collaborated by an intensive promo packaging by the DOT considering that the time and funding for an activity like this is quite a burden for LGUs who are gasping for funds,” Congressman Libanan stressed.