DOT execs validate eco- tourism sites in Kalinga

By Geraldine Dumallig

TABUK CITY, Kalinga– The Department of Tourism –Cordillera Administrative Region  recently  validated  three identified potential eco-tourism attractions of the province for funding under the DOT-Department  of  Interior  and Local Government  grassroots participatory project partnership.

Provincial tourism officer Lorrain Ngao-i said validated sites included Uguid Subterranean River of Balbalan, the Freedom Trail of Pasil and the Tiwod Fertility Spring in Lubuagan.  

Ngao-i said the validation started Oct. 15 in Balbalan where a pathway project going down the Uguid Subterranean entrance is ongoing.

Sources said spelunking would start down river going up for visitors to have a more thrilling experience.

On Oct. 16, the evaluators went to Pasil and tried the 8-hour hike Freedom Trail. The 43 kilometer- trail from Pasil to Sagada Mountain Province which once served as passage of  General Emilio Aguinaldo and his troops in evading  American soldiers during the Fil-American  War in the 1900s.

This adventure trek starts in Balenciagao to Colayo, Pasil near the boundary of Kalinga and Mt. Province.

These include seeing include legendary sites, hot springs, falls, picturesque mountains and rivers, rustic villages, a cave, a mine ruin, and the camp sites of Aguinaldo and the American soldiers.

On Oct. 18, the DOT went to Lubuagan to inspect the Tiwod Fertility Spring.

The team also visited historical Aguinaldo Park , and recommended to the local government to make it a significant manifestation that Lubuagan once served as the seat of the Philippine National Government from March 6 to May 17 in 1900 under then President Emilio Aguinaldo.

 “Proposals are being directly submitted by the local govnemrent units  to the DOT, so we hope that all concerned LGUs are always ready with their documentary requirements to facilitate the immediate funding and implementation of their desired tourism projects,” Ngao-i said.