Better road unveils tourism opportunities in Northern Samar

TACLOBAN CITY, May 25 (PNA) –- The new road linking Northern Samar towns facing the Pacific Ocean, will open up tourism opportunities in impoverished areas where farming is the major source of living, an official said.

Northern Samar provincial tourism officer Josette Doctor said that unknown to many, the towns of Lapinig, Gamay, Mapanas, Palapag, and Laoang are endowed with rock formations, dive sites, beautiful beaches, and waterfalls.

“We are trying to develop Pacific towns now that we have the circumferential road. The first step is to prepare the place and encourage more tourism-related investments. We also have to train communities, make them aware, and open their minds to tourism and not just farming,” Doctor said.

Aside from natural wonders, other attractions in these towns are century-old churches, American burial site, and a lighthouse.

The newly-completed circumferential road links remote Northern Samar towns to Eastern Samar, making the area more accessible to Tacloban City, the regional capital.

Mapanas town Mayor Francis John Tejano said seeing a Tacloban-bound passenger van passing through their town is something unusual.

“It’s just normal in other place, but in our place, this means a lot to us. Only during the Aquino administration that the bumpy and muddy road was paved. We are happy that we are not isolated anymore,” Tejano said in a mobile phone interview.

Although Northern Samar’s Pacific towns are endowed with natural wonders, these areas are one of the poorest areas in Eastern Visayas region.

With a poverty incidence of 61.6 percent, Northern Samar is the fourth poorest province in country, trailing behind Sarangani, Sulu, and Lanao del Sur. (PNA)
JMC/SARWELL Q. MENIANO