LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – Rep. Eric Yap disclosed that the initial phase for the construction of the province’s state-of-the-art convention center will start in 2024 to allow the conduct of major government and private gatherings in Benguet.
Yap stated that the public works department is currently preparing the program of work and the cost estimates of the proposed convention center which will form part of the Wangal Sports Complex to maximize the available limited space for government facilities in the property of the provincial government.
He claimed that the proposed convention center will be constructed within the sports complex near the aquatic center so that it will be able to highlight the ability of the province to host the conduct of big local, regional and national gatherings that will help in boosting the ongoing revival of the local economy that was heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Congressman Yap underscored that it is high time for Benguet to have its own state-of-the-art convention center to allow the province to establish its identity as one of the preferred convention venues in the north for the people and officialdom to be able to showcase the province’s rich culture, history and heritage.
Part of the convention center, according to the lawmaker, will be a museum that will showcase the rich culture, history and heritage of the people of Benguet for visitors to understand how the indigenous peoples of the province had evolved through the years.
Yap pointed out that Benguet deserves to be in the map of places where conventions and big gatherings either public or private should be conducted because the same will be coupled with possible visits to the scenic tourist destinations aside from being informed and educated on the way of life of indigenous peoples living in the different communities provincewide.
He predicted that once the proposed multi-story convention facility will be completed, many public and private gatherings will be conducted in Benguet which will surely in spurring the economic activities of the people and sustain the sources of livelihood of the residents.
Benguet is a second-class province that was recently recognized as among the top local governments that had excelled in the collection of internally generated resources. It has been named as the Salad Bowl of the Philippines being the source of more than 80 percent of the supply of semi-temperate vegetables being sold in the different markets around the country.
Congressman Yap asserted that the province must have a diversified source of income to help in enhancing the current economic activities being done in the province because hosting conventions will translate to the emergence of other related businesses that will provide alternative sources of income for the people wanting to venture on businesses outside agriculture and tourism.
He emphasized that the eventual operation of the convention center will definitely open the floodgates for the producer of souvenir products among others to be aggressively patronized by those who will be attending the gatherings that will be hosted by the province.
Benguet is one of the provinces in the Cordillera that is inhabited by various tribes where agriculture serves as the major source of income of the people.
