LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – The famous Stonehill, Botiwtiw and Sadiap (STOBOSA) tourist attraction will be enhanced to provide a scenic view for visitors following the forging of a memorandum of agreement (MOA) among concerned stakeholders such as the municipal government, the Cordillera office of the Department of Tourism (DOT-CAR) and Davis Paints for the repainting of the hundreds of hillside houses.
Under the said agreement, more than 300 houses situated within STOBOSA will be repainted with the new design crafted by well known artist Jordan Mangusan to provide new attractions for the visitors dropping by the viewdeck to see for themselves the design showcased by the hillside houses.
Davis Paints, one of the country’s major paint manufacturers, will be providing more than 2,000 gallons of assorted paints which will be used to repaint the hillside houses to be able to showcase the new design that will provide added attractions for foreign and local visitors dropping by the area for picture taking activities.
In 2016, the said STOBOSA hillside houses were painted showcasing rainbow colors and the design of a butterfly that paved the way for the said area along Km. 3 of the Halsema highway to be popularized as one of the tourist attractions in the municipality.
Mayor Romeo K. Salda pointed out that the repainting of the hillside houses with the new design will definitely contribute in enticing more foreign and domestic tourists to frequent the municipality to personally view the newly painted houses which will be instrumental in allowing the local tourism industry to bounce back from the negative effect of the COVId-19 pandemic.
Further, the local chief executive also expressed hi8s gratitude to the tourism department for fully supporting the endeavor of the local government in the efforts of the tourism industry stakeholders to gradually and safely recover from the serious negative impact of the COVId-19 pandemic to be able to generate more jobs for the residents and bring back the vibrance of their economic activities within the next several l months.
According to him, the commitment of Davis Paints to support the repainting of the hillside houses is also highly commendable because it highlights the partnership of the government and the private sector aside from allowing the local government to realize savings in terms of the volume of paint that should be supposedly procured for the repainting of the hillside houses.
He stated that the local tourism industry is on the right direction towards recovery that is why various tourist destinations in the different parts of the municipality are now on their full operation to cater to the needs of foreign and domestic tourists flocking to the municipality and wanting to see their desired attractions which they were not able to visit over the past 3 years of the implementation of community quarantine restrictions.
The repainting of the hillside houses will be done simultaneously with the celebration of the town’s month-long celebration of the Strawberry festival which is one of the much-awaited crowd drawing events in Benguet.
Visitors going around the Cordillera usually drop by the capital town to see for themselves the well painted and designed hillside houses and the famous strawberries.
