Tourism in Canlaon City, Negros Oriental, is picking up after the alert level status of Mt. Kanlaon was downgraded from 3 to 2.
Seth Cabanes Bariga, the city’s OIC information officer, told the Philippine News Agency that all tourist sites previously closed due to the Dec. 9, 2024 eruption of Mt. Kanlaon are now open to the public.
These include the Padudusan Falls and Natural Water Slide, the Bao-bao viewing deck, the Balete Tree, and Quipot Falls.
“These tourist sites are beyond the 4-kilometer Permanent Danger Zone of Mt. Kanlaon, and we have set in place safety and security measures in the event of heightened volcanic unrest that would warrant evacuation or even closure,” Bariga said Aug. 21.
“I visited Padudusan Falls today and saw plenty of people enjoying the natural water slide and swimming in clear waters, unlike in previous months,” he added.
In June, residents reported that heavy rainfall triggered a mudflow at the falls.
Bariga called on visitors to register with the City Tourism Office or at the tourist destinations for proper accounting.
City Tourism officer Isabel Ann Clerigo said they are hopeful for an increase in the tourist influx now that the closure order for these attractions has been lifted.
Records at the City Tourism Office showed that for accommodation establishments, a total of 9,895 foreign and local visitors were recorded from January to June of this year.
Of that number, 122 were foreign nationals and 9,773 were locals.
For the centuries-old Balete Tree, which was opened in February, the City Tourism Office registered a total of 11,438 individuals, comprising 72 foreign and 11,366 local visitors.
These accommodation establishments are situated beyond the extended 12-kilometer danger zone of the volcano.
Clerigo said it is still too early to determine the number of tourists who have visited the newly reopened tourist destinations, as the city will begin its monitoring next month.
Canlaon Mayor Jose Chubasco Cardenas issued Executive Order No. 2025-15, series of 2025 on Aug. 15, lifting the closure of the tourism sites after the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology lowered the Mt. Kanlaon alert level status. ||
