DOT Regional Director Karina Rosa Tiopes said they will start the
accreditation of potential houses whose owners are willing to be part of the
homestay program to address the lack of accommodation for visitors in town.
“Prior to the handover, the local government talked with residents
to accommodate guests who would stay there overnight. To make this all
sustainable, we will assist them in organizing homestay facilities,” Tiopes
told reporters Saturday night.
Homestay is a tourism program that allows visitors to rent a room
from a local family who earns additional income. This will also enable tourists
to immerse with the locals and learn the Filipino culture.
Other preparations set by the DOT include trainings for mangrove
paddling guides, waiter servicing and food handling, community tour guides,
mountain guides, effective customer service and entrepreneurial development.
DOT also provided funds for the procurement of livelihood gears
such as kayak with paddles, personal flotation device, fisherman’s hat, rash
guards, first aid kits, tents, solar lamps, beach umbrella, plastic tables,
monoblock chairs, abseiling ropes, harness, carabineers and various office
supplies for Bayakha Falls, Ladder-Bangon Falls and Sitio Marag Mangroves.
“Enhancing other tourist destinations in Balangiga will make
visitors stay longer, giving them the opportunity to get to know our people,
experience our culture, taste our cuisine and discover the Infinite Escapes in
Eastern Visayas” Tiopes added.
The DOT will also train tour guide for them to be able to tell one
story -- the bravery and heroism of the people of Balangiga.
“Tourism development is a long journey, but we will take the
initial step," Tiopes said.
For tourists to get a better view of the Balangiga Incident
Marker, the tourism department is proposing to transfer the town’s existing
gymnasium to another location.
The marker is the work of National Artist Napoleon Abueva,
inaugurated on the 102nd commemoration of Balangiga Encounter on Sept. 28, 2003.
“We are asking funds from the Department of Public Works and
Highways and Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority for the
construction of new gymnasium and improve the landscape of the town’s plaza,”
Tiopes added.
Part of the proposal is to build a visitors’ center and a souvenir
shop near the marker.
Samar Governor Sharee Ann Tan who witnessed the handover of bells
on Saturday said they will include Balangiga as one of the destinations under
the Spark Samar tourism campaign even if Balangiga town is in Eastern Samar.
“The return of these historic bells will greatly benefit our
tourism in the province especially those Samar towns close to Balangiga. This
is will really boost our tourism promotion drive since the bells are known
internationally,” Tan said.
Tan will meet with provincial officials of Eastern Samar to
collaborate tourism promotion efforts more so that the DOT came up with a
master plan for the three Samar provinces as one Samar Island.
Balangiga Bells are church bells originally from the Parish of
Balangiga in Borongan, Eastern Samar.
The bells were taken by American soldiers back in 1901 as war
booty after American soldiers killed the town’s people, an event historically
known as the Balangiga Massacre.
Prior to the bloody massacre, Filipino insurgents were said to
have used the church bells to signal an attack against American soldiers at the
dawn of Sept. 28, 1901. About 48 American soldiers who were part of Company C
of the 9th US Infantry were killed by the insurgents armed with bolos.
In retaliation, Brig. Gen. Jacob Smith ordered for Samar to be
turned into a “howling wilderness,” in which American soldiers burned the town,
and to kill everyone over the age of 10. The bloody incident is now known as
the Balangiga Encounter. (SQM/PNA)
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