MITCH M. LIPA
The new normal brought about by the COVID pandemic and the increasing cases of infection in urban centers caused more people to visit nature places.
The local government of La Castellana noticed that more Negrosanons are becoming regular visitors in their tourism sites as an escapade, particularly during the weekend.
As such, the municipal officials and members of the Municipal Development Council, joined by all barangays captains of the town, agreed to mount a new festival since tourism events are a promising venture for a town that is situated at the foot of the active and majestic Kanlaon Volcano.
“Limpio Verde 2021” will be held on the third week of June, and where all kinds of plants will be arrayed in a one-hectare garden looking like a Century leaf. This will be inside the three-hectare Mandayao Panorama Park in Barangay Mansalanao that the local government negotiated from the Infante Family.
The area was approved as a Tourism Enterprise Zone, Mayor Rhumyla Nicor-Mangilimutan said.
Mangilimutan said the LGU wants to emphasize the beautification and greening in the area and convert the barangays with vast coffee plantations, with Kanlaon in the backdrop, into new tourist destinations in Negros Occidental.
The LGU will spend P400,000 for the construction of the festival garden site. Each barangay will have a garden area to develop, as a sort of competition.
The perspective plan looks like a Century leaf. The garden at the center will be managed by the municipal government. Each leaf represents the barangays of the town, 13 in all, and they will be tasked to develop the garden allotted to them.
Mangilimutan said the festival will be a perfect venue for plantitos and plantitas to find varieties of garden plants that are rarely found, and these plants grow only near the active volcano.
Surrounding the tourism development site are coffee plantations. Mangilimutan said the LGU wants to develop the place into an all-for-one tourism destination, and will put up tourist accommodation facilities, like a hotel resort and family fun park facilities.
The area is expected to offer nightlife in the future since the commercial stalls that will open will serve food and drinks for local and foreign tourists, aside from the must-try La Castellana coffee.
The proposed area for development is a short distance from Mandayao Falls, and will transform Mandayao Park into a complete package for all tourists.
Mangilimutan added that after all developments and structures are in place, the LGU is planning to make the area income generating, since weddings and other events can be held there.
The whole area available for a tourism economic enterprise is 56 hectares of the property owned by the Infante family. They applied for the conversion of the area from the Department of Agriculture, and the LGU is entering into a private-public partnership with the land owner.
In the initial plan, the area outside of the 3-hectare tourism development site will be transformed into a pilgrim site. The LGU committed to construct a giant cross, worth P4 million, while the land owner pledged to put up giant statues of Jesus Christ and Virgin Mary, with Kanlaon in the background. A universal chapel will also be constructed for visitors, who want to commune with God and nature.
The Mandayao Panorama Park is six kilometers away from the town proper, passing the road going to Canlaon City in Negros Oriental. It is a perfect site for a closer view of the Mt. Kanlaon crater and overlooks a wide patch of greens.
There are more than 10 tourist accommodation establishments, to include hotels and pension houses. More than 30 cafés and small restaurants dotted the town, including in the town proper and in tourist destination sites in Barangay Cabacungan.
Mangilimutan said the jobs created and income brought by tourism-related establishments contribute more than 30 percent to the economy of the town. – MML
