Buguias tops beautification tilt in Benguet

By Kenny Kate Garcia

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet -- Ten years of continuous and successful implementation of the “roadside beautification program” through the Benguet Provincial Tourism Office involving 13 municipalities since 2013 promoted public health, safety, peace and order, tourism, agriculture, and environment protection in the province.
     The Benguet Tourism Office bared this saying most roadsides the program includes cleanliness, landscaping of open spaces, establishment of mini-parks and planting of plants in every municipality for travelers to experience eye-relievers during lengthy travels.
    This year, under the program, the municipality of Buguias represented by Barangay Bangao was declared champion among 12 municipalities that participated and received a plaque of recognition and a cash prize of P60,000 held here at Ben Palispis Hall, Provincial Capitol on June 15.
    Punong barangay of Bangao, Linda Gabriel Tagubasi said, “Actually dijay prize nga inawat mi ket not enough paying for everything nga nausar mi ditoy, but we are very thankful for that in support. Ngem we are not after the prize, but for the sustainability, cleanliness, and beautification of our environment.”
    She added that they did not expect to be the champion, maybe because they sustained the cleanliness and beautification of their place.
    Meanwhile, second spot was awarded to Bakun with P55,000 pesos worth of prizes. Tuba was third place with P50,000 cash prize.
    Kabayan was fourth winning P45,000.
    Sablan was fifth and got P40,000.
    Kibungan was sixth with P35,000,  Itogon and Bokod seventh place with P25,000  each, and Atok eighth winning P20,000.
    Other municipalities received a certificate of appreciation for participating in the activity.        
    Benguet Chief Tourism Operations officer Eleazar B. Carias said “The program is a yearly activity of the Province of Benguet under the Tourism office.
    The beautification program includes planting of appropriate plants along landslide-prone areas
    “This activity will still continue until the next years to motivate barangays in sustaining what they have started,” Carias said.
    It was conceptualized through a memorandum of agreement between various agencies assigning every second Friday of the month as a clean-up drive along the Halsema Highway within Mt. Trail inter-local health zone.
    In 2013, the program was implemented as a clean and green program competition involving 34 barangays from 9 municipalities.    
    In 2019, the tourism office requested to expand this program in all 13 municipalities of Benguet and it was approved through the Administrative Order 2019-034 also known as the “Benguet Roadside Beautification Program”.
    It aimed to encourage every municipality to clean and beautify their roadsides by planting flowers, shrubs, and other decorative plants to highlight every identity of each municipality.”
    This program is also in support of the dengue prevention and control program of the Dept. of Health because it gives emphasis on the clean-up drive along the roadside that helps in eliminating mosquito breeding areas and preventing a possible surge of dengue breakout.
    According to DOH, Benguet logged a 228-percent increase with 312 cases this year versus the 95 cases last year of dengue.
    They added that because insects are very difficult to control and are highly adaptive to the environment, the public must treat all mosquitoes as dengue-causing and must be eliminated.
    The program also supports the Anti-rabies Act since the absence of stray animals is a criteria.
    This program also increases the perception of every municipality as clean, safe, and welcoming that can also arise in the tourism industry of the province of Benguet.
    Roger Yagyagen, motor rider traveling at Halsema Highway said, “Sati kanayun ak makasabat ti aso wenu manok karkaru ijay banda Tublay, Atok, ken Buguias ket isu pay maysa rason nga maout-of-focus ti panagdrive.     Ngem tadta awan metten napansin ko nga bulos nga aso ken daduma nga hayop nga sumali iti kalsada.”
Gov. Dr. Melchor D. Diclas said during awarding program that “this program is not merely a competition but more so as an avenue to strengthen people’s culture of unity toward the preservation, protection, and promotion of a healthy environment”.