BAGAC, BATAAN — The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR-Bataan) headed by newly-installed PENRO chief, Raymond Rivera celebrated the Earth Day last Friday.
The Earth Day is an annual event celebrated on April 22 worldwide where various events are held to demonstrate support for environmental protection.
Officers, personnel and staff from CENRO Bagac and CENRO Dinalupihan joined Rivera and his whole staff in the celebration by cleaning up the vicinity of the natural park.
The celebration took place in this town’s portion of the Bataan National Park (BNP) where the Limutan Falls and Ambon-ambon waterfalls can be found.
According to Ed Kabigting, DENR Bataan’s protected area supervisor (PASu), the BNP covers six municipalities namely Hermosa, Orani, Samal, Abucay, Bagac, and Morong that comprises 16 barangays (villages). Its land area covers 18,335 hectares and has 56 waterfalls but only 24 of it were documented by the DENR.
PENRO Rivera thanked the provincial governor, Albert Garcia, for his efforts to help improved the place for tourists and investors. Gov. Garcia funded the access road going to the area which is now under construction.
“Our regional director conceptualized the package development of this place and will be called ‘Ambon Ambon and Limutan Falls- an Ecotourism Destination.’ Bataan’s ecotourism and tourism as a whole is now on its boom stage here,”Rivera said.
In accordance with DENR Sec. Gina Lopez’ vision, Rivera believes that through the right cooperation and dedication of its partners, LGUs, and other agencies, the development of the place will be a successful ecotourism project.
Rivera also cited, as a concrete example, a similar ecotourism project in Palawan where the place earns 24 million pesos a year aside from the income private businesses inside the tourism area. — MHIKE R. CIGARAL