TABUK CITY, Kalinga – The attainment of a peace agreement between the feuding tribes of Butbut in Tinglayan and nearby Betwagan in Sadanga, Mountain Province will greatly contribute in spurring the growth of the tourism industry in the said communities that will pave the way in achieving countryside development, Gov. James Edduba said here recently.
Earlier, Edduba and Mountain Province Gov. Bonifacio C. Lacwasan, Jr. signed a peace covenant stipulating their verdant desire to put an end to the tribal conflict between the two tribes that emanated from their disagreement over a disputed area which had been the cause of numerous skirmishes between members of the said tribes that significantly affected the law and order not only in the communities but also in the involved provinces.
The governor pointed out that the sustained law and order in the two provinces remains at the top of his priority for his second term and that he will continue to initiative dialogues with his counterpart, including the newly elected mayors of Tinglayan and Sadanga and the tribal leaders to explore the most practical means to end the conflict to allow foreign and domestic tourist to explore the grandeur and beauty of the hinterlands of the Cordillera and contribute in improving the economic activities of people in the said communities.
“We will not give up in our efforts to find ways on how to convince the tribal leaders of both parties to agree on a lasting peace agreement so that tourists will be convinced to visit their beautiful places because the Tinglayan and Sadanga areas are blessed with numerous nature destinations worthy of exploring and developing in the future,” Gov. Edduba stressed.
The disputed area is a vast track of land located between the Butbut and Betwagan communities that served as a pasture land for the members of both tribes which the elders insist that belong to them which issue has not yet been resolved even through the intervention of concerned government agencies, law enforcement units, political and tribal leaders among others that is the root cause of the tension between the feuding tribes.
The Butbut and Betwagan tribal conflict is the only remaining dispute involving various tribes from the different provinces of the Cordillera which remains unsettled primarily because of the hardline position of each of the tribes on the ownership of the disputed area that serves as a pasture land for their animals and source of water for their communities.
The local chief executive stipulated that there are numerous potential tourist destinations in the said places such as challenging trekking sites, rice terraces, waterfalls, picnic areas, clean rivers and springs among other nature destinations that will surely draw the influx of nature lovers when law and order is guaranteed in the said places for their own safety and security.
Further, he explained that economic activities and sources of livelihood of the people living in the said communities will definitely flourish once there will be sustained influx of tourists visiting their places considering that the Cordillera remains to be one of the major ecotourism destinations in the country because of its existing and untapped destinations that serve as its economic driver in the future.
Kalinga and Mountain Province are situated in the central Cordillera that is why it is rich in nature destinations which are being patronized by foreign tourists, particularly Europeans. By Dexter A. See
