Angara pushes Baler as economic, cultural, educational, tourist hub

MANILA, Philippines - Senator Edgardo Angara is laying down the groundwork for making Baler, Aurora Province, an economic, cultural, educational and tourist destination in the next five years.

In an interview with The STAR, Sen. Angara said that first and foremost, infrastructure development has been started in providing access to the Eastern province of Aurora both by air and land.

According to Angara the Baler-Dr. Juan C. Angara airport is having its runway extended to 1,500 meters which is much longer than the Caticlan Airport in Antique which has a runway length of only 900 meters.

Another larger international airport is also being constructed in Casiguran.

The Baler airport extension, Sen. Angara pointed out, could then easily accommodate an AirBus plane.

SEAir already has flights to Baler, but talks are already ongoing with Air Philippines and Cebu Pacific for future flights, he said.

Land access via an extension of the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTex) by an additional 81 to 87 kilometers is also in the works with funding already pledged by the Japanese government through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Senator said.

A P350-million economic zone - the Aurora-Pacific Ecozone- Sen. Angara said, is under construction with at least two locators already.

The Aurora-Pacific Ecozone, the veteran legislator, educator and former Agriculture Secretary said, would be the first ecozone facing the Pacific Ocean since most of the existing ecozones face the China Sea.

Aurora Province, Sen. Angara said, is also developing its agriculture sector with the establishment of mariculture parks that cultivate high-value fish such as seabass, lapu-lapu and bangus.

Aurora’s main agricultural crop is coconut which produces a number of products from coconut oil,coconut vinergar, coco jam to coco coir which is used in industrial textiles.

Sen. Angara has teamed up with well-known high-end Raintree Partners, Inc. to develop a “small luxury hotel” resort in the Angara family-owned Dikasalarin Cove, as well as a moderately-priced resort in Sabang Beach.

Raintree currently manages the SLH Discovery Group Resorts of the Tiu Family in Ortigas, Boracay and Tagaytay.

Well-known architect Ed Calma will design the two resorts and construction is expected to commence by 2012.

The two resorts will use materials indigenous to the province.