Tourism chief vows to revitalize Baguio

January 7, 2020

Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said her department, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) are slated to visit Baguio City on Friday.

Puyat, together with Secretaries Eduardo Año and Roy Cimatu will be visiting Burnham Park, Wright Park, Mines View Park, Baguio City’s sewage treatment plant and Balili river, and the sanitary land fill in Irisan.

An inter-agency meeting with the Baguio local government unit has been scheduled to tackle the prevailing problems such as overtourism and discuss the possible sustainable infrastructure rehabilitation projects on urban carrying capacity of Baguio, La Trinidad, Itogon, Sablan, Tuba and Tublay  and other plans to redevelop and decongest the UNESCO Creative City.

“The commitment to our mandate to sell and protect our natural attractions remains our paramount objective. It is a shared responsibility, however, among government and our people to be responsible stewards of our planet,”  added Puyat.

More than a year since Boracay underwent massive restoration, the Department of Tourism (DOT) bared plans to rehabilitate the flagship tourist destination.

Among the projects the DOT pledged to bankroll in the “City of Pines”, through its infrastructure arm, Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA), include the P 480-million rehabilitation of the iconic Burnham Park; TIEZA and Baguio signed a MOA on the funding commitment.

The DOT and TIEZA are also studying Baguio’s request for funding for the construction of a sewerage system and the rehabilitation of the Mines View Park. DMS