BAGUIO CITY, Philippines — Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong over the weekend bared the design plans for the rehabilitation of several tourist destinations in the “Summer Capital” of the country.
In a meeting with the city officials and the interagency task force composed of the Departments of Tourism, Interior and Local Government and Environment and Natural Resources last Friday, Magalong said the rehabilitation would cover the following tourist destinations:
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Burnham Park
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Mines View Park
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Arboretum
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Bayan Park
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Baguio City Public Market
Magalong proudly showed to the stakeholders present in the meeting the world-class design plans for these tourist spots. The future plan would be implemented in the next 15 years.
The plan for Mines View Park, one of the top tourist spots in the UNESCO Creative City, showed that it would undergo a major renovation as the city government plans to build a 20-meter-long tunnel for it. It would also add a world-class glass walkway.
'No Baguio closure'
Magalong and other officials said there would be no closure of Baguio City to accomplish the rehabilitation. However, all tourist parks mentioned would be closed to the public temporarily once its rehabilitation begins.
The closure does not cover Burnham Park as it would be renovated in phases.
On Friday, the Department of Tourism, through its infrastructure arm, Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA), and the LGU of Baguio already signed a memorandum agreement on the funding that sealed the P480 million rehabilitation of Burnham Park.
The Baguio chief executive has already started the revitalization of the city's Arboretum while other destinations are projected to be rehabilitated this year.
Magalong also identified other areas in Baguio City that would be up for rehabilitation such as the environment, traffic and transport, water supply and geo-hazard areas occupied by the informal settlers.
The interagency taskforce earlier said Baguio is being challenged by “overtourism.”
According to Magalong, the city also faces issues on poor air quality, pollution of rivers, traffic congestion, diminishing forest cover and informal settlers and illegal structures within hazard or protected areas. He said the city seeks to address these issues with the help of the interagency task force and the public.