Pantabangan eyed as ‘Little Baguio’

PANTABANGAN, Nueva Ecija – This mountain town situated 176 kms. north of Manila – which is home to the giant Pantabangan Dam and hailed by local tourism officials as a miniature version of the country’s summer capital – is being primed as a premier tourism destination in the province following the creation by the provincial government of the Pantabangan Eco-tourism Development Committee (PEDC).

The creation of PEDC was contained in EO No. 6 issued by Nueva Ecija Gov. Aurelio Umali, according to Mayor Romeo Borja.

Borja, a member of the committee, said that the PEDC has been tasked to perform such functions as: evaluate all existing tourism programs and create, recommend, implement and supervise viable tourism programs.

Borja said that the town has natural sceneries, citing the dams of Pantabangan, Aya, the Masiway as well as the Casecnan Dam which has resorts and facilities that could perk up the domestic tourism industry.

Casecnan Dam is connected to the Pantabangan Dam by a 26-km. underground tunnel which diverts water from the Casecnan and Taang rivers to Pantabangan. The tunnel is considered the longest such tunnel in Asia.

Aside from Borja, the committee is also composed of the mayor of the nearby town of Rizal, the chairman of the tourism committee of the Sang­guniang Panlalawigan, the regional director of the Department of Tourism in Central Luzon, representatives from the National Irrigation Administration and its Upper Pampanga river Integrated Irrigation Systems (UPRIIS) and the Casecnan Multipurpose Irrigation and Power Project, the FirstGen Hydro-Power Corp., the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the local environment and natural resources office (ENRO) and offices of the provincial government and a media representative.

Emisonia Gante, municipal tourism officer told The STAR that aside from offering irrigation and hydro-electric powers to Central Luzon, Pantaba­ngan has vast untapped potentials for eco-tourism, citing that the town is a virtual “hidden paradise.”

She hinted that the lake itself is one of the cleanest lakes not only in the Philippines but throughout Asia. The Dam’s water reservoir, she said, is an inviting place for boating, fishing and other sports activities such as rafting, game fishing, jet skiing, rock climbing, wake boarding and rappelling.

Gante said that the place has a climate comparable to Baguio and thus, can be called “little Baguio.” The town also boasts of one of the best hotels in the country – Best View Hotel – where President Arroyo even slept during one of her out-of-town visits.

The town also plays hosts to migratory wild ducks from China during the months of October to February.