Dulguime named new city tourism officer

Ms. Chedilyn Aissa P Dulguime has been appointed as the new tourism officer of Cagayan de Oro City.

The 20th City Council in a resolution confirmed her appointment as City Government Department Head II of the City Tourism and Cultural Affairs Office during its 114th regular session presided over by Presiding Officer Pro Tempore Councilor Romeo Calizo.

In her statement, Dulguime expressed her gratitude for having been given the opportunity to lead the office.

Dulguime’s track record in public service

Dulguime brings a wealth of experience in administration, planning, and public service to her new role, beginning her career in 2001 as an administrative officer III at the Provincial Engineering Office of Misamis Oriental, where she later assumed as administrative officer V in 2005.

For two years from 2009 to 2011, she served as the supervising administrative officer in the same office.

Her appointment as hospital administration specialist at the JR Borja General Hospital in 2013 came not as surprise as she herself is a licensed professional nurse, having completed a degree in nursing at Xavier University - Ateneo de Cagayan. 

She expanded her professional horizon and honed her expertise in project coordination upon her ascent as senior manager for partnerships at Rare Inc., an international environmental conservation nonprofit organization, for three years since 2014.

From 2017 to 2019, she served as the city coordinator and consultant for the United Nations Human Settlements Programme's Building Climate Resilience through Urban Plans and Designs Project.

Before her current appointment, she served as officer-in-charge in the City Tourism and Cultural Affairs Office from 2019 to 2022, which she described as challenging. However, the office was able to navigate through the limitations posed by the pandemic to the tourism industry.

Under her leadership, the city government of Cagayan de Oro became the first local government to hold a virtual festival, which was followed by other LGUs.

Their brainchild project with the City Management and Information Systems and Innovations Department, which was the city tourism management information system, is also being benchmarked.

The accreditation numbers for tourism-related enterprises also rose five times, from only 18-20 before and now with more than 100 accredited businesses, when she sat as assistant city planning and development coordinator of the City Planning and Development Office of Cagayan de Oro.

Educational background and training

Dulguime, after having finished a nursing degree at XU in 1995, pursued a bachelor of laws degree in the same university until her fourth year.

She later obtained a master in public policy from The Australian National University in 2011 with distinction.

In 2018, Dulguime passed the environmental planning licensure examination. This opened doors for her to join local professional development sessions and international conferences in urban and regional planning, environmental planning, human settlements planning and development, urban resilience, and national and local investment priorities alignment.

She has also undertaken specialized trainings in tourism product development, Filipino brand of service excellence, the development of the Philippine tourism manual on climate change, situational leadership, advocacy and policy influencing, and strategic performance management.

Adding to them are workshops on frontline services, eco-tourism statistical tool, and tourism awareness, appreciation, and network building for Mindanao tourism officers.

Dulguime also participated in the 23rd National Convention of the Association of Tourism Officers of the Philippines in 2022. (FDCalotes/SP)