SAN FERNANDO Emerging premier destination

SAN FERNANDO CITY, Pampanga – A centerpiece program of this first-class city has transformed itself into a major tourist destination of Central Luzon.

Mayor Oscar Rodriguez said his administration has to embark on tourism promotion campaign to make it known to all that this city has excellent tourist facilities.

Rodriguez said the city’s flagship hotel is The Paskuhan at the Hilaga Village that is now owned by Paskuhan Development Corp., a government-owned firm chaired by Edgardo Puno.

The mayor has been lobbying for the transfer of management of Paskuhan Village from the Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA) to the city government since he saw the potentials in managing such a promising tourism complex at the peak of the Hilaga Exhibits. That was a season of grandiosity that showcased the cultural get-up, culinary specialties and cottage products of provinces in both Central and Northern Luzon.Rodriguez disclosed that the hotel then was always fully booked, thanks to then Tourism Sec. Richard Gordon, now a senator, and the administration of his predecessor, former mayor Reynaldo Aquino, now a representative of the province’s 3rd district.

“You could see the parked vehicles clogging the area reserved for visitors from near and far,” butted the mayor’s tourism and culture action officer, Ivan Henares.

In addition to Hilaga Hotel, aka Reign Hotel that used to be Day’s Hotel, what’s in a name anyway? There is a standard hotel likewise: Hotel Gracelane. There are motor inn hotels too that are used more as rest and stopover lodges and business hotels by traveling families and merchants. This is not to say though that they no longer are favorite hideaways of couples opting for fugitive love. But the mayor is proven to be telling the truth when he asserts the claim that his city has more than enough facilities to accommodate tourists from both near and far.

These are the Lewana Lodge, Miyabe Court, Bowliseum Motel, Hotel Victoria, Hotel Tropicana, Pampanga Lodge, Valle Verde Royale and Villa Filipina.

“Then there is the historic Pampanga Hotel just a spitting distance from the San Fernando Cathedral and City Hall; Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo as president of the First Philippine Republic at the turn of the century slept there,” Henares said.

Last Aug. 11, the City Tourism Council chaired by businesswoman Tess Laus met to formulate ways and means with which to give direction to the tourism vision of the city administration.

Laus is also chairperson of the San Fernando Chamber of Commerce and Industry while husband Levi is head of the regional conglomerate Laus Group of Companies. Ditto with the family patriarch, Rufino, an elected councilor of the city.