City eyes 3 new tourism sites

The City of Puerto Princesa will develop three new tourism destinations all in Barangay Sta. Monica to increase tourism sites managed by the local community.

These new destinations are the man-made forest also known as Pocket Forest near the race track, Spring Water and the mangrove areas in Purok Magkaisa.

The organizational meeting of the Community Based Sustainable Tourism (CBST) in Barangay Sta. Monica was conducted on Saturday, March 2, 2019 at the Man-Made Pocket Forest, and was facilitated by the city government through the City Tourism Office.

Aileen Cynthia Amurao, City Tourism Officer, speaking before the barangay officials of Barangay Sta. Monica and more than 50 others who are residents and members of the newly formed CBST announced that they have already proposed the concreting of the road leading to the three tourism sites to make it more accessible to tourists and it will be funded through Tourism Road Infrastructure Project of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

“Napakahalaga kasi ng accessibility sa ating mga tourism sites kaya gumagalaw na po kami. Kasama ang inyong tatlong tourism destinations sa popondohan ng DPWH,” she said.

She informed the CBST members that the community will directly benefit from the income and other economic activities generated because of the tourist arrivals although in the beginning stage of the operations, CBST members need to work voluntarily.

“Sa simula ay labor of love talaga. Community service pa muna pero later on ay kikita na ang destinations dahil sa mga bumibisita na turista. marami ng mga CBST sites sa Puerto Princesa at sila ay kumikita na ng malaki ang kanilang mga destinations,” Amurao explained.

Among the popular CBST sites in the city include Honda Bay Island Hopping Tour, Sabang Sea Ferry-Underground River, Babuyan Twin Sandbars, Sabang Mangrove Paddle Boat Tour, Iwahig Firefly Watching, among other CBST destinations.

The formation of the CBST is one of the programs of the city government to enhance the tourism industry in the locality and optimize engagement of the community in tourism activities.

Amurao said that with the formation of the CBST in Barangay Sta. Monica and with the identification of three potential sites, the barangay need to submit to the City Tourism Office a Barangay Resolution designating its Barangay Tourism Coordinator, who will be their overall focal person in tourism. Another needed documents are the barangay resolution endorsing the potential tourism sites for CBST, and barangay ordinance creating the Barangay Tourism Council.

The next step will be the formulation of the site development plan for each identified tourism sites. The CBST organization will be registered at the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

As part of the CBST activities, there will be a Rapid Tourism Assessment to identify the available resources within the sites, and to make sure that it is compliant with existing zoning and environmental regulations.

The training and capacity building component will be provided by the city government. There will be monthly report that will be submitted by the CBST particularly on the number of tourism arrival, once the site is already operational.

The president of the Sta. Monica CBST, Rowell “Roy” Rodriguez, urged other members of the CBST to work together to make their barangay a successful CBST site.

“Kung kami man ay nagiging successful ang pagpapatakbo ng Butterfly Garden, how much more ngayon sa Pocket Forest at iba pang mga destinations dito sa Sta. Monica na magkakasama tayo (na mag operate) mga kabarangay,” he said.