Governor Toto Defensor in his first major policy statement on tourism has made the promotion of Ilonggo food as the centerpiece of his administration’s campaign.

“We don’t want our food to remain just a part of tourism, we want it to be the centerpiece of Iloilo’s tourism industry,” said the neophyte governor during the “Kain Na” event of the Department of Tourism 6.

The focus on food hit the target straight and a reality check for the province of Iloilo at the same time.

Many of the towns in their bid to level up with the Dinagyang Festival launched their own hybrid and copycat versions which instead of boosting their tourism campaign only miserably failed. Perhaps the lack of proper research on their cultures contributed to its dismal performance and of course the usual attitude of everyone where a program is done for compliance mattered.

Another thing, not all towns are gifted with natural and panoramic land and waterscapes thus the campaign for tourism and exploit its economic potential just failed.

Food, on the other hand, is everything. KBL, linagpang, tinola, linaga, pinapisikan and many more are a just but a few of the native Ilonggo delectable food that people from other places wanted to partake.

There is the bountiful sea that delivers fresh catch to the tables of every Ilonggo family.

Rightly, Toto Defensor hit the mark. Food is the strength of the Ilonggos and it’s something that must be the main foundation of the province’s tourism campaign.

It’s a tough road though, Governor Toto. Take the town of Carles for example. It’s considered as the next frontier after Boracay Island but they cannot even feed their visitors properly. There are a lot of carinderias and restaurants even across the fish landing station of the town. Unfortunately, they do not sell fresh or frozen seafood. Visitors will have to endure the usual bihon guisado and chorizo on their menus. 

When one is promoting food, it must be made available 24/7 no matter what. Afterall, tourists would come to Iloilo to taste the best native food it can offer and not the usual chorizo and bihon guisado.

If Governor Toto is dead serious about it, then he must craft a technical framework and template that every town must observe and follow.

The provincial government must also empower it’s tourism office and actively campaign that all towns must have a duly appointed plantilla tourism officers.

It’s a long way to go, but at least a policy has been declared.