TUBA, Benguet – Mayor Clarita Sal-ongan urged foreign and domestic tourists planning to go on a vacation in the Cordillera to include the pristine destinations in the municipality in their list of must see places which will help in the gradual and safe revival of the heavily impacted tourism industry.
Sal-ongan, together with Councilors William Abanse, Eugene Gabino and Oliver Paus and officials and employees of the municipal government, welcomed the 7 lucky summer visitors who were chosen by the Baguio Correspondents and broadcasters Club (BCBC) in nearby Pugo, La Union with a simple but meaningful program held at the municipal grounds on Maundy Thursday. She told the lucky visitors that they will not be able to reach Baguio without passing through the roads that are within the jurisdiction of the municipality as the country’s Summer Capital is within Benguet although it is a chartered city.
The municipal chief executive claimed that the municipality also has scenic destinations like hot springs, eco parks, waterfalls, caves, trekking sites, agri-tourism farms, cutflower farms among others worthy of visiting before tourists can proceed to their desired destinations in Baguio, Benguet or in other parts of the Cordillera.
Earlier, the BCBC conducted the first in-person Search for this year’s Lucky Summer visitors following a 3-year lull in the annual activity due to the COVID-19 pandemic that restricted people from moving around.
Tuba is one of the 5 first class towns in the municipality that heavily rely on mining as its source of income to sustain the implementation of development projects and enhance the delivery of basic services to the people.
Mayor Sal-ongan disclosed that officials and employees of the municipal government are very much willing to extend to the visitors the necessary support for them to be able to visit the various tourist destinations in the different parts of the municipality considering that tourism is one of the potential sources of internally generated resources that will spur the town’s economic growth.
The mayor asserted that the municipal government has to maximize the potentials of tourism to be able to generate internally generated resources that could be used to implement the high impact development projects and further enhance the delivery of basic services beneficial to the welfare of the people of the municipality.
She said that foreign and domestic tourists will surely be enticed to frequent the municipality once they see for themselves the grandeur and beauty of the scenic tourist spots as these had been preserved and protected by the people of the municipality through the years.
Tuba is composed of some 13 barangays and is located in the southwestern part of Baguio city which has jurisdiction over Kennon road, Marcos highway and Naguilian Road which all lead to Baguio.
