Loboc Mayor Helen Calipusan-Alaba has pushed on an experimental basis the merger of floating restaurant services to improve food quality. The merger mechanism was an offshoot of the recent incident involving the alleged food poisoning of students of the Bohol Island State University (BISU). But the Local Government Unit experiment was not getting full support it deserves from all floating restaurant players. Tess Labunog-Sumampong, a star player in the business, was reported to be cool to the merger idea. Labunog is known in the business as having cornered the biggest slice of the market apparently because of her excellent public relations. She is also particular with the quality of the food served in her floating bancas making her floating restaurants the favorite of celebrities.

In a statement, the LGU Loboc said it is not about to implement a merger of the private business of the boat operators in the town. “If there is any merger it should be left to the owners to decide themselves,” the statement said. The issue of merger, the statement said, was only floated by the LGU as one of the best possible option to ensure that the stakeholders of the Loboc River Cruise, especially the tourists, shall best be served with efficiency and effectiveness due to the challenges currently faced. “What will be implemented by the LGU is not merger but a turno/rotation of boats similar to what is adopted by the very successful operations of the Underground River of Puerto Princesa,” the LGU Loboc statement pointed out. Among the expected benefits of the rotation cited by the Loboc LGU are the following: “lack of food and delay in the refill would no longer be experienced since operators would now cook food good for 45 persons (as the agreed capacity) unlike the current situation where there is hesitance on the part of the boat operator to cook due to the non-predictability of the number of guests;

Fast turn-around of boats, a big possibility that the 30-minute allocation would not be consumed; Control over commission, therefore, food budget would not be lessened; Boats would be fully utilized which will be running on its approximate capacity; and soil erosion would be lessened brought about by the reduction in the number of trips.” However, Labunog said in a press statement that the planned rotation system would bring more harm than good to Loboc tourism and to Bohol tourism in general. “This is a perfect example of a government intervention in a free enterprise that brings more harm than good to business and tourism,” said Tess Labunog-Sumampong, owner of Riverwatch Floating Restaurant operating at the Loboc River Cruise. Sumampong said that ever since the new system was floated in media reports she has been receiving harsh reactions from travel agencies and tour operators who have commented that a rotation system would stop boat operators from improving their services as they would become lax knowing that they could still get customers whether or not they offer good food and service.

“As far as the Riverwatch Floating Resto is concerned, we invest so much in upgrading our facility and in training our staff so that we can provide the best food and best service to our guests. It is not the fault of those who are excelling in customer service if there are those who are doing poorly in this business,” she explained. Sumampong said that by putting the playing field at equal level through the rotation system, tourists would eventually suffer the consequences since their expectations would no longer be met by boat operators who have no interest in upgrading and improving their services. “What the LGU is doing will not improve quality of tourism at the Loboc River Cruise, instead it will discourage those who want to offer the best and highest river cruise experience to upgrade their facility and food because a communist-mindset of running the floating resto in Loboc is a disservice to those who invest so much in making their floating resto at par with world standards,” Sumampong said. Sumampong noted that “Not all boat operators are equal. There are those who serve better food and better service because they want to satisfy their customers. Those who are doing poorly in terms of food and service will no longer aspire to make things better once the rotation system is introduced.” “We should allow tourists to exercise their freedom to choose. We should not force our visitors to go for a floating resto that does not meet their standard and taste,” she said.