The youngest mayor of Bataan wants to promote his town as an ecotourism destination, it being adjacent to the mountains and the West Philippine Sea.
Mayor Louise Gabriel del Rosario said more than 700,000 tourists visit Bagac yearly and he will try to attract more by building a tourism center and develop other ecotourism projects.
“We will build a tourism center that will become the first municipal tourism building in the 11 towns and one city of Bataan. Then, we will prepare our tourism programs so that Bagac will be more known not only in the Philippines but in other countries as well,” Del Rosario, who turned 22 last July, said.
He said that products and different places to visit will be showcased in the center.
Bataan’s only provincial tourism center is in Balanga City, more than 25 kilometers away from Bagac.
Del Rosario said the P2-million project will be funded with P1.8 million from the bottom up budgeting and the rest from the local government. It will rise near the Philippine-Japan Friendship Tower.
Bagac had its share of world limelight when the finance ministers meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference was held last year in the theme park Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar.
The mayor said there was a plan to conduct the Asean meet in Bagac next year.
“After Las Casas Filipinas, we want to show guests other tourist destinations in Bagac,” he said.
Bagac, along with Morong town, is known for its beautiful sandy beaches along the West Philippine Sea.
Aside from the beaches, Del Rosario said he wanted to develop two waterfalls—Ambon-Ambon and Limutan Falls—that he believed will be loved by tourists.