Balbalan to open cave to tourists

BALBALAN, Kalinga - - The local government unit here is set to open to tourists one of its Class II (needing tour guide) caves.
           Mayor Eric Gonayon said the Magangab cave in Barangay Tawang will be opened to tourists this year.

This after the Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources assessed the municipality’s Magangab, Dinugdugan, Maamnus, Banig and Kiling caves. 

Regine Faye Munda Cruz, Balbalan tourism operations officer, said Magangab cave has two entrance with surveyed distance of 82.7 meters; average width of 2.404 meters; average height of 3.2 meters; elevation of 251 meters above sea level. A river also flows below the cave.

Gonayon said the LGU, DENR and the land owner have signed a memorandum of agreement to jointly implement the cave’s management plan.

Among the MOA’s salient provisions are for DENR to provide training and technical service and for the LGU to provide funding allocation for the cave’s development and promotion and to appoint a Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office to oversee the implementation of the cave management plan. The land owner would ensure that persons who utilize the cave complied with requirements and also to assist in the protection of the cave.

 The LGU has started conducting capacity building and training for the social preparation of concerned communities.

The opening of Magangab cave is expected to boost the tourism industry of the municipality whose tourist destinations include the Banao Protected Landscape in Balbalasang, Ugid underground river in Balbalan Proper and Maling, Panitet or Calvary Hill, Tawang caves and the Bolo-Nawoy rice terraces.

About 8,263 tourists visited Balbalan from January to September 2019 where 8,126 are local tourists and 101 foreign visitors. (JDP/PAB-PIA CAR, Kalinga)