BAUKO, Mountain Province – The municipal government is proposing the construction of a five-storey public market building that will serve as the town’s major income-generating venture that will provide the opportunity to existing and upcoming micro-small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to be able to market their produce to residents and visitors.
Mayor Braham B. Akilit said that the proposed public market building will be erected in an over 2,000-square meter property of the Episcopal Church when the funding for the noble project shall have been sourced out from concerned government agencies and other government financial intermediaries.
“We want to provide our local entrepreneurs the opportunity to market their produce since the existence of a public market facility will be a distinct advantage for them to be able to sell their produce,” Mayor Akilit stressed.
The local chief executive pointed out that the public market that is being proposed to be built will serve as a one-stop shop for businesses in the locality aside from the fact that it will be close to the terminal of public utility vehicles that will help in significantly increasing the economic activities of people living in the town’s 22 barangays.
Mayor Akilit claimed that concerned government agencies and the local government are doing their part in aggressively promoting Bauko as one of the must-see tourist destinations in the province because of the presence of scenic destinations that will serve as a growing and emerging destinations that will contribute in improving the conduct of economic activities which are able to create jobs and sources of livelihood for the people.
According to him, the local government is continuously establishing the appropriate linages with some lawmakers and funding institutions to help locate for the suitable institution that will fund the construction of the market structure to be used as the town’s economic enterprise.
Bauko is considered an emerging urban center in the province because of the presence of numerous tourist destinations that will contribute in efforts to perk up the growth of the town’s local economy considering that the municipality is being projected as one of the premier ecotourist destinations aside from Sagada and Banaue, Ifugao.
Mayor Akilit pointed out that one of the aspects of development being prioritized by his administration is the provision of sustainable sources of livelihood of the people, thus, the need for the put up of a market facility that will cater to the market of their products until it will be able to advance in the value chain considering the need to strike a balance between the state of the environment and the and the development of the identified potential growth areas.
Akilit emphasized that one of the major thrusts in the local development plan is the identification of potential growth areas in the different parts of the municipality that will help in enticing willing tourists to frequent the ecotourism destinations and for them to contribute in efforts to improve the living condition of the people in the different barangays.
Bauko is considered to be the headwaters of numerous river systems providing abundant water supply to lowland communities which are used in domestic, industrial, irrigation, power generation among other uses that contribute in improving the economic activities in the northern and central Luzon areas. By HENT
