City launches Lagaw Bacolod program

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — The city government has launched the Lagaw Bacolod program Saturday in a bid to reposition its barangays as tourism destinations and to attract more tourists to the city. “Lagaw” is the dialect for “tour.”

The launching was held in Brgy. Alangilan, located approximately 16 kilometers east of the city proper and the first barangay being packaged by the city government under this program.

Councilor Homer Bais, chair of the City Council’s tourism committee, said Alangilan has a big potential of being the next tourists’ destination of Bacolod because of its existing resorts, polo club, ongoing development of man-made lake, and other spots. “Alangilan has a cooler climate, natural springs and polo club, while becoming a hub for adventure sports tourism,” he said.

Bais on Saturday toured the local media, some city officials and employees, and barangay officials to the different tourist destinations in Alangilan. It was also the first activity on the opening day of the 32nd MassKara Festival.

The Lagaw Bacolod team and guests went to Bantug’s Polo Club, Henares’ Buro-Buro Springs, Dodoy’s Ecological Resort, San Francisco Resort, Paula Pool, Bucal-Bucal, Jojo’s Resort, Tree Park, and Quiachon Resort.

City Vice Mayor Jude Thaddeus Sayson, who also joined the tour, said through this Lagaw Bacolod program, “we would like to show the people (tourists) that there is a place like Alangilan which has the potential of a tourism destination.”

Bais said Bacolod is a destination of various LGUs for Lakbay Aral. He said they want to include Alangilan in familiarization tours for its potentials in vermiculture, and food and adventure tourism.

Alangilan could also be ideal for retirement village, he said. “The old age rate in Japan is increasing and they saw that the Philippines is a good retirement destination because of its manpower and caregivers.”

Sayson said that for day tours, they could include Alangilan in the itinerary and the tourists will find the place at par with other tourism destinations. “It just needs a little improvement especially on roads and electric poles,” he said.

“Alangilan is located in the center of central Negros, near Talisay City and Murcia town. There are cable cars in Campuestuhan above Alangilan and that is where the watershed of Bacolod is. Alangilan is part of the watershed area,” he said, citing the barangay’s 10 water reservoirs which supply potable water to Bacolod every day.

Also in Alangilan is a 10-hectare Tree Park that the city government wants to reforest because the barangay hosts the watershed of Bacolod, Sayson said. “We do not have beautiful beaches but we have a mountain barangay which we can convert into one of the tourism destinations of the city,” he said.

For now, Sayson said they need to prepare the necessary program of works to be submitted to the different government agencies to source funds because the city alone could not afford it.

“It’s a matter of government intervention in terms of promotion. The owners (of resorts) themselves are willing to invest their money (on the project). They saw that there is a market if they develop their respective areas into a tourism attraction or destination,” Sayson said.

Bais said that next to Alangilan they are looking at other barangays along the coastal areas of Bacolod, such as Punta Taytay, to be packaged as the next tourism destination. - THE FREEMAN