Solon seeks declaration of Pinatubo as tourist spot
Inquirer
Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon
First Posted 03:47am (Mla time) 08/05/2007
ANGELES CITY, Pampanga—Pampanga Rep. Carmelo Lazatin has filed a bill seeking to declare Mt. Pinatubo as an official tourist destination in the Philippines.
Lazatin, through House Bill No. 1613, sought the formal designation 16 years after the volcano recorded its strongest eruption on June 15, 1991. Volcanologists had considered that eruption the second worst in the world in the 20th century.
The disaster destroyed 364 villages in Pampanga, Tarlac and Zambales, killed more than 1,000 people and displaced 1.5 million residents, reports from the National Economic and Development Authority showed.
It damaged P3.8 billion worth of public infrastructures, especially irrigation and flood control system, roads and bridges. Lahar, or mudflows, in 1992 damaged more roads and bridges worth P1 billion.
Relief operations, including the construction of evacuation and relocation centers, cost the government P2.5 billion in 1991-1992, Neda said.
By 1998, the government spent P31.8 billion on Mt. Pinatubo-related programs, records from the defunct Mt. Pinatubo Commission showed.
“Once feared, Mt. Pinatubo is now regarded for its beauty, enticing every adventurous tourist,” Lazatin said in his explanatory note to HB 1613, referring to the lahar canyons and crater lake accessible via mountain trails in Pampanga, Tarlac and Zambales.
The volcano is surrounded by the mountains of Quadrado, Malasimbo, Balakibok and Negron. The bean-shaped lake at the crater is 2-km wide and 600- to 800-meter deep.
HB 1613 asks the Department of Tourism to enact the declaration and endorsement of Mt. Pinatubo as one of the major tourism spots in the country.
The DOT is also tasked with setting aside a budget for the establishment and maintenance of tourism areas around the volcano.
The proposed law seeks to give local governments the mandate to create tourist points.
The bill sought to “boost tourism in all adjacent communities of Mt. Pinatubo and create livelihood means for residents,” Lazatin said.
Ronaldo Tiotuico, DOT Central Luzon director, welcomed Lazatin’s move. “It’s high time to earn that title (as tourist spot).”
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