LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – Benguet caretaker congressman and Anti-Crime and Terrorism through Community Involvement and Support (ACT-CIS) Party-list Rep. Eric Yap underscored that it is high time for the province to have its own world class convention center to allow the conduct of huge local, regional, national and international gatherings to be hosted by Benguet that will help in projecting its image as one of the future convention sites in the country.
Yap, who chairs the powerful House committee on appropriations, said that he already requested the provincial government and the La Trinidad municipal government to identify the possible feasible sites where the world-class convention center could be constructed so that he will pursue the sourcing out of the funds for the project.
He claimed that the presence of a convention center will help in enticing event organizers to hold their huge activities in the province that will also contribute in the efforts to further enhance the promotion of the local tourism industry to allow Benguet to have a significant share of the foreign and domestic travelers once the ongoing restrictions will be relaxed.
Earlier, Yap and Gov. Melchor Diclas led the inauguration of the newly rehabilitated gymnasium at the Wangal Sport Complex where he was able to infuse some P30 million to improve the facilities of the said gym.
The lawmaker pointed out that Benguet must have its own distinct identity as a major tourism destination and convention area in the future, thus, appropriate development projects must already be put in place to ensure that the province will be able to accommodate the expected influx of visitors which will be beneficial in helping gradually and safely revive the local economy that was impacted by the ongoing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
According to him, there is a need for the land area that will be identified to be conspicuous so that it will serve its purpose in catering to the requirements of big events that will be hosted by the province once the project will be realized in the future.
Congressman Yap pointed out that Benguet has greater potentials to become a first-class province in the coming years once concerned government agencies and local government units will work together to chart the short, medium and long-term development plan that will bank on its existing assets to achieve its desired improved status in the future.
Congressman Yap had been time and again publicly announcing that one of his dreams is to be instrumental in making Benguet a first-class province although it is operating as such even if its current classification is a second-class province.
He urged the people and local officials to continue their harmonious working relationships to help in convincing concerned government agencies to continue providing the required funds for the implementation of the priority development projects that will advance the state of development in the different parts of the province in the coming years.
He emphasized that the development of the province’s road networks will definitely serve as an engine in spurring the significant increase in the economic activities and sources of livelihood of the people in the countryside aside from serving as a major tourist destination in the future. By HENT
