Credit: Johnny Warrior
After the successful rehabilitation of Boracay and ongoing efforts in Palawan and other beach destinations, Baguio City is next on the government’s crosshair.
The Summer Capital of the country might undergo efforts to transform it into a “smart city.”
Mayor Benjamin Magalong with the unified help of the city government has prohibited the cutting of trees and ordered a stop to all new construction of homes and office buildings.
Additionally, rehabilitation efforts for Baguio City will entail the relocation of structures mostly private homes, that have been built along the slopes, to new developments being planned in the outskirts of the city and neighboring municipalities, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said.
Puyat added that more detailed discussions are set in January among the Baguio government, the Department of Tourism (DOT), Department of Environment and Natural Resources and other agencies involved in the revival of the country’s top travel destinations.
The DOT, via its infrastructure arm the Tourism Infrastructure Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA), is providing an initial P500 million budget to the city, of which P400 million is for Burnham Park.
The funding will also be used to rehabilitate the city’s public market, create pedestrian-only areas, and commence the upgrading of the city’s water and sewage systems.
Meanwhile, the national government is providing funding to the city to aid cleaning up and reviving local areas, Puyat said.
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