By Darwin Wally Wee
BONGAO, Tawi-tawi -- One of the country’s most majestic and
scenic mountains, the Bongao Peak, got a further sprucing-up with the
completion of the construction of infrastructures to make access to it easier
and friendlier.
Top officials of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), led
by Regional Governor Mujiv Hataman inaugurated the PHP56-million project in
July in Bongao Municipality, Tawi-Tawi province.
“These
projects are part of our desire to improve the tourism infrastructures in the
autonomous Muslim region," he said.
The project includes an access road, tourist center, concreting of
about 750 steps leading to its zenith, installation of railings for support and
protection, and construction of resting sheds.
Tourists will register at the visitors’ center, where they will get a
briefing about the famous eco-tourism park.
An entrance fee of PHP20 is
collected for the maintenance budget of the facilities.
The inauguration ceremony was highlighted by a trek to the top led by
Gov. Hataman, accompanied by Bongao Mayor Jimuel Que, Provincial Governor
Rashidin Matba, and other ARMM and local officials.
"We want to position the beautiful southern island province of
Tawi-tawi as one of the best tourism destination sites in the country,"
Matba said.
The project was implemented through a Memorandum of Agreement between
the regional government and the municipal government of Bongao.
Development of the eco-tourism park, aimed at the preservation and
conservation of the area, is one of the priority projects of the Hataman
administration.
Bongao Peak is one of the 12 key biodiversity sites in the country,
protected by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources under its New
Conservation Areas in the Philippines Project.
The Peak can be seen from miles around and is a sanctuary for many
kinds of wild animals, the most of famous which are rare white monkeys and wild
boars that annually migrate to the area from nearby Malaysia.
Tawi-Tawi Province lies adjacent to Sabah, which is thickly forested
and is home to renowned orangutans.
Locals call the peak Bud Bongao.
They revere it as a sacred spiritual haven, similar to Mount Banahaw in Luzon.
Que said around 1,500 tourists visit the peak every week. Last year,
the region’s Tourism department recorded around one million tourist arrivals in
Tawi-Tawi.
“There have a been a lot of marathon games we carried out in Bud
Bongao,” he said.
To increase visitor and tourist arrivals in the town, Que said the
local government will sustain and maintain Bud Bongao and will also conduct
activities and projects that will further promote tourism in the municipality.
“As we market Bud Bongao as one of the destination sites on the island
province, we are mindful of the ecological balance that we need to achieve. We
have to sustain the ecosystem of this majestic mountain," he said. (PNA)
No comments:
Post a Comment