by Rachelle M. Nessia

Cebu City (12 May) -- Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo marked her visit in Cebu City today by signing into law Republic Act 9593 or the National Tourism Policy Act of 2009 inside the plush Imperial Palace Waterpark Resort Hotel and Spa, the newest addition to Cebu’s string of world-class hotels.

Pres. Arroyo, in a one-on-one interview with GMA 7 Cebu News Anchor Bobby Nalzaro at the lobby of the Imperial Palace prior to signing said law, explained that the signing of RA 9593 is held here as Cebu is the emerging premier tourist destination in the country.

The signing was witnessed by the authors of and sponsors of RA9593 during the culmination of the two-day One Visayas Summit on Climate Change at the Dubhe Ballroom of Imperial Palace.

RA 9593 is an act declaring a national policy for tourism as an engine of investment and employement, growth and national development.

The law is touted to boost the country’s tourism industry, strengthening the Department of Tourism and its attached agencies to effectively and efficiently implement tourism policies.

The national government has been aggressive in its call for more investments in the country particularly in the tourism sector.

Tourism Secretary Ace Durano, in the same interview, said that their campaign has resulted to the creation of more jobs in the construction and operations sectors.

The President has put Durano, a native of Cebu City, in charge of the Comprehensive Livelihood and Employment Program in Cebu and CARAGA region.

Durano said that one of the programs under CLEEP is the protection of the environment while giving jobs to fishermen. "So upon the instruction of the President, we set up marine sanctuaries, one of which is in Balicasag Island aside from the providing jobs through new hotels and resorts," he said.

The Imperial Palace and Waterpark Resort Hotel and Spa, which hosted the activities of the President in Cebu today, is a showcase of investment confidence in the country particularly in response to the national government’s call for more investment in the tourism sector.

The resort, which is still undergoing final stages in construction, will hold its grand inauguration by the first week of July 2009.

Pres. Arroyo stressed that the resort is an example of how investments in the tourism sector has created jobs in the construction and operations sector.

In the same interview, Rodel Bueno, a native of Zamboanga del Norte, brought his family to Cebu and since 2007 has been earning his pay as a construction worker at the said resort. "I started out as a laborer and eventually got promoted to being a foreman in 2008," he said.