BAUKO, Mountain Province – The local government and local tourism industry stakeholders are awaiting the release of the registration of a transport cooperative that will boost the availability of tourist transport services to cater to the increasing demand of transportation that will ferry visitors to their desired tourist destinations not only in the municipality but in the different parts of Luzon.
Mayor Abraham B. Akilit disclosed that the registration of the local transport cooperative has been pending with the Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory board (LTFRB) for quite some time and that its upcoming release will definitely serve as an added boost to the presence of sufficient number of public utility vehicles that will serve the transportation requirements of visitors wanting to visit other pristine tourist destinations inside and outside the locality.
“We learned that the registration of the local transport cooperative is likely to be released the soonest based on reliable information from those tasked to followup the matter with the regulating agency. We hope that it will be released the soonest so that our visitors will have added options in using public utility vehicles to cater to their transportation requirements,” Myra Akilit stressed.
He claimed that the local transport cooperative that will be registered will be in addition to the first transport cooperative that was earlier registered by the LTFRB with operation in the locality.
Bauko is being groomed as one of the must-see tourist destinations by foreign and local tourists because of its majestic and towering mountains, scenic waterfalls and attractive trekking areas prior to proceeding to world famous destinations in the province such as Sagada in Mountain province and Banaue in Ifugao.
The local chief executive pointed out that all aspects of the operation of the two local transport cooperatives re being ironed out by the concerned government agencies and the local government to ensure that their operations will not be hampered and for visitors to patronize the local transport services instead of bringing along with them their motor vehicles in touring round he region.
According to him, ecotourism is the way to go for Bauko because of the need to strike a balance between the type of development that will be introduced and the efforts to preserve and protect the state of the town’s environment, especially that it serves as the headwaters of most river systems providing abundant water supply to the people living in communities in the lowlands.
Akilit directed local tourism industry stakeholders to craft the needed comprehensive master development plan of the local tourism industry to make sure that potential tourist destinations will be given sufficient exposure to entice more foreign and domestic visitors to frequent the locality and contribute to the efforts of the local government in spuring economic growth beneficial to the greater majority of the residents living in the town’s 22 barangays.
Akilit encourage nature lovers o consider Bauko as one of their must see places when visiting scenic tourist spots in the cordillera so that they will see for themselves the beauty of nature that has been passed on to generations.
By HENT
