VISIT Ozamiz

The office of the City Tourism along with the city government is launching its Visit Ozamiz program this month of October.  The program is geared to show as to why the city is tagged as the cultural, historical and pilgrimage site of Misamis Occidental.

The name Ozamiz isin honor of the late Senator Jose Ozamiz – the very 1^st senator from the area during the time of President Manuel A. Roxas, before the Japanese occupation.  Dubbed as the late and forgotten hero form Misamis Occidental, not a good number outside the area knows the things that he has done for his country.  Senator Jose Ozamiz is a man of integrity, loyalty and courage as honored by President Manuel A. Roxas during his inaugural speech at Luneta upon installation as the First President of the newly independent Philippine Republic.  On July 16, 1948, the principal port and trading center of Misamis Municipality was renamed as Ozamiz City under Republic Act No. 321.

Ozamiz is known for having a good number of historical sites with religious value; one of these is the pipe organ that is currently housed at the Immaculate Concepcion Cathedral.  The Cotta Shrine located besides the historical fort is recognized by Pope Francis as one miraculous site during his Philippine visit.  The El Fuerte de Cotta or Cotta Fort is a wrapped in a miraculous story. One must visit are the bells at Mt.Bucayan for the value of its story around it.   Present also and commonly visited are the Carmelite Home and the Divine Mercy Church.

Part of the tourism program is the improvement of the Cotta Boulevard, park and garden.  To rise in the area of the boulevard is a symbolic recreation of a galleon ship signifying the value of Ozamiz as a trading port area.  All this and more shall be revealed during the 1^st Familiarization Tour this October 28 and 29, 2016.

The main reason behind this program is the historical and cultural value of such mentioned places if not promoted accordingly which is why the Tourism Office pushed for this program this year; a program that is geared to bear fruit in the years to come and established Ozamiz as a place to be for tourist.  Mr. Jaime S. Tomada, Head Tourism Officer of Ozamiz plans to repaint the city from its quiet personality to a serene but dynamic place of people, sites and food; a city that has its own take of common street food and have made it their own.  Something one must try when visiting Ozamiz.

 

Being a trading port area, it has access and serves as a springboard to go to other beautiful places in Misamis Occidental.  From Ozamiz one can go to Clarin, Tagub and other areas that have their own treasure to boast.  Comparing it to other cities, it is like Manila that has access to Pasay, Mandaluyong, Quezon City, Caloocan and Makati.  Being a city that has access to other areas, it also boasts of living establishments that fits your budget.  Should you missed your ride for the day, you have no fear of sleeping under the stars.  Transportation is not also a problem when you are in the city.  There is a good number of three-wheeled carriages, both manual and by gasoline.  Fare is only Php 7 per person to any point within city area.  That is why it a place to be when visiting Northern Mindanao.

Visit Ozamiz is a call to all the people of the city to be loud and proud of their city.  A call to make all believe in the serene but dynamic energy of the place as visualized by Mr. Jaime S. Tomada.  The 1^st FamTour entitled:  “Discover Ozamiz, The Cultural, Historical and Pilgrimage Site of Misamis Occidental” is the start of the new Ozamiz.  Be part of the waking beauty of this quiet place.