LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – Benguet Caretaker Congressman and Anti-Crime and Terrorism through Community Involvement and Support (ACT-CIS) Party-list Rep. Eric Yap stated that the proposed development of the strawberry farm will be done in close coordination with the present administration of the State-run Benguet State University (BSU) to ensure the alignment of programs, projects and activities geared towards helping revive the local economy.
Yap, who chairs the House Committee on Appropriations, said that the proposed development of the town’s major tourist attraction will have to be consolidated based on the comprehensive land use plan not only of the municipal government but also of the higher education institution to achieve the overall goal of improving the state of the strawberry farm and help the farmers increase their income from the existing production areas.
He added that it is important for the concerned stakeholders to synchronize their programs and projects on how to improve the state of the tourist attraction to ensure that there will be increased economic activities in the area that will help in bringing back the vibrance of the local tourism industry.
Congressman Yap also suggested to the new BSU leadership for the use of its available prime properties to spur economic activities in the municipality that will help the government speed up the recovery efforts because it is now important to resume their economic activities as people need to bring back the vibrance of the economy to sustain their living condition.
Initially, the lawmaker assured concerned stakeholders in the strawberry farm that he will work out the provision of funds for the construction of the comfort rooms and improvement of the related facilities in the area while the present administration wants to put up a strawberry-shaped walkway that will feature the products and tourist destinations in the 13 municipalities as part of the overall efforts of the government to help revive the vibrance of the province’s tourism industry.
One of Congressman Yap’s programs for Benguet is to aggressively promote the whole province as an alternative tourist destination with the designation of a tourism ambassadress to entice foreign and domestic tourists to consider the province as their preferred tourist destination when the situation will go back to normal.
Earlier, Congressman Yap maximized the use of his personal resources to help bring the candidates of the Miss Universe – Philippines 2020 beauty pageant to Benguet where one of the ars where they conducted their professional photo and video shoots was at the strawberry farm.
The strawberry farm is one of the most frequented places in the province where both foreign and domestic tourists participate in the strawberry picking activities for them to have a feel of the said activity.
Yap also proposed to BSU to consider the proposed put up of a techno hub similar to the one that was built within the campus of the University of the Philippines in Diliman to further entice more people to move around and contribute in the overall efforts of the government to revive the local economy and provide sustainable sources of livelihood for the people.
By HENT, photo by Joseph Manzano
