Suroy-Suroy
Suroy-Suroy Sugbo is back and the reviews looked good, rightly so.
Of the common English translations of the word “suroy-suroy” from the online Cebuano-English dictionary Binisaya.com – gad, gallivant, peregrinate, and stroll – “peregrinate” seem to be the most fitting translation. It means “to travel or wander around from place to place.”
According to a report by The FREEMAN, participants of Suroy-Suroy have lauded the success of the caravan's relaunching on Friday, and which culminated last Sunday in the lechon capital of Cebu --Talisay City (sorry, Carcar).
“It is the first Suroy-Suroy Sugbo caravan after six years that employed each local government unit’s tradition, culture and delicacies,” wrote The FREEMAN’s Lorraine L. Ecarma. “In this installation, participants got to explore the 22 southern cities and municipalities of the province,” these were Talisay, Naga, Carcar, Minglanilla, San Fernando, Sibonga, Argao, Dalaguete, Alcoy, Boljoon, Oslob, Santander, Samboan, Ginatilan, Malabuyoc, Alegria, Badian, Moalboal, Alcantara, Ronda, Dumanjug, and Barili.
The next leg of Suroy-Suroy is slated January next year, with the “North Heritage Trail” to be featured this time.
I did not pay much attention to Suroy-Suroy during the previous terms of Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia under whose administration the program was devised and implemented. But it was in 2013 when I realized that something was indeed right about Suroy-Suroy.
By then Garcia was no longer in charge of the Capitol, and later a new equally laudable program which focused on eco-tourism under tourism consultant Joselito “Boboi” Costas took the limelight.
I missed Suroy-Suroy though, because as I said, back in 2013 I realized why such a program is important to Cebu. One of our partners in Manila contacted our local organization here and asked if we could assist a young scholar from Belgium who would like to come to Cebu. The latter chose Cebu to be one of her localities for her dissertation on sustainable tourism.
My schedule could only allow one full day to tour the visiting Belgian scholar around the island, so I picked the Cebu southern trail where we stopped in a few choice spots in most southern towns. The highlight of our suroy-suroy was the eco-farm in Alegria of Mayor Verna Magallon and her husband, now Alegria vice mayor, Dr. Gilbert Magallon.
It was during that one-day trip that I realized what I had been missing all these years as an islander in Cebu. It took a wide-eyed wonder of a traveling scholar, who had an extra spring in her step for every town stop of our southern trail, for me to see Cebu with a new pair of eyes.
Our island may just be an elongated, narrow strip of land just a few thousand square kilometers in size, but it packs quite punch for visitors who are looking for culture, heritage, and natural wonders. Every town has its own heritage story to tell, a good product to show, and an eco-tourism site to promote.
It’s good that Suroy-Suroy Sugbo is back, and I hope that with it comes the further development of community-based tourism in Cebu. For me, Suroy-Suroy’s success and sustainability ultimately lie in the development of both the physical and social structures that allow for a wider participation of people in the community.
Suroy-Suroy Sugbo brings attention to the unique role of each city and town in Cebu’s tourism industry. The involvement of each local government in the program could provide an important opportunity for communities to express and realize their desire for a kind of tourism that brings pride and meaning to their place, not the exploitative and destructive kind.
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