THE Negros Occidental Tourism Division is pushing for more retirement facilities in the province accredited by the Philippine Retirement Authority (PRA), its top official said.
Cristine Mansinares, provincial supervising tourism operations officer, said the initiative of increasing the number of accredited retirement facilities should come from the private sector.
Mansinares said the government will just provide an enabling environment to allow such investment to come in, and prepare the necessary utilities and infrastructure support.
"The province has been doing these measures with the help of the Department of Tourism (DOT), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) as well as some private groups especially with investments in the province like in energy generation," she added.
The PRA earlier said they are positioning the province especially its capital Bacolod City to become one of the country's retirement destinations.
The agency said the city is actually ready as a destination for foreign retirees especially in terms of infrastructure.
Its records, however, showed that there is only one accredited retirement facility in Negros Occidental. It is the Sanko Mambukal Life Care Home in Murcia town.
In terms of the number of retirees staying here, the agency reported "a few" for now.
Most of them are living in the city near the entertainment establishments including malls, among others.
The agency further reported that Western Visayas only hosts one percent or 500 of about 53,000 foreign retiree-holders of Special Resident Retirement Visa (SRRV).
In terms of nationality, most retirees in the region are Europeans, who are looking for natural attractions, it added.
"More retirement facilities would further attract foreign tourists especially retirees to come to the province," Mansinares said, adding that one of the measures to increase tourist arrivals is ensuring that facilities are ready to cater to their special needs.
