By Anthony A. Araos
Let me belabor the obvious- for the nth time, Banaue is the top tourist destination in Ifugao. Thus, the question arises: What town is likely in the second spot?
How about Lamut? This query was raised by a friend of mine in Aguinaldo town in the province’s second geographical district. Without hesitation, I replied: Quite true!
Lamut is the gateway of the province from the side of Nueva Vizcaya province. Crossing a long bridge from Bagabag of the Cagayan Valley region province, one reaches Lamut where the imposing sign says: Welcome to the Cordillera Administrative Region.
There are a lot of places to see in Lamut. In other words, the town offers several attractions to local and foreign tourists.
There are about 16 key sites to visit in Lamut, still a predominantly farming municipality.
For starters, I’m recommending to my friends and tourists the Pugol Fishponds. Fish pens in this part of Lamut are surely attractive to domestic and foreign travelers. They could go there for fishing and camping. This is also an ideal place for youth leaders and students in the secondary and tertiary levels. Looking for a place where fishponds and rice fields abound? Don’t go too far. It is right here at Pugol fishponds. Got it here 24/7, take my word for it!
The place is fascinating and you feel the essence of the lush scenery immediately.
Going to this place individually or joining a group tour are options for travel plans to the Pugol fishponds and many other sites in Lamut. Just have some updates from the municipal government. You can either inquire at the Office of the Mayor or the Municipal Tourism Office.
To this day, a fishpond has a very special place in my heart and mind. There’s a lot of aquatic life out there. I am just as too eager as many others to study the place. This is surely a good way of protecting natural resources of the village. There’s no better time to protect the fishpond’s ecosystem than now!
I hope the foregoing commentary will inspire the people to do something meaningful on this score for Pugol fishponds, for Lamut, for Ifugao and ultimately for the country and for the world.
Pugol fishponds are helpful to the town’s tourism industry. Likewise, the said ponds would make a dent in the municipal government’s target of feeding many people and help the officialdom achieve inclusive growth.
Perhaps, many in Ifugao are not even aware of the relevance of the fisheries sector and the need to sufficiently support fisher folks. It is high time to safeguard fishermen and their beneficiaries because the fishponds are the nation’s treasure. You’ve got to find ways to achieve this task at the quickest time. Before it’s too late!
Again, get in to your best-ever (or first-ever) fishpond trip in this part of the Philippines. Go get your travel bag and head to Pugol fishponds.
-oOo-
These past decades, the tourism industry in Ifugao has benefitted primarily Banaue. The question is why?
First, Lamut sorely lacks hotels and lodging inns to accommodate tourists. Foreign tourists are attracted by the town’s enchanting caves such as the Yamashita Cave and Sanafe Dome Cave. Yet, they are not staying long in the town. They are immediately leaving for Solano, Nueva Vizcaya for an overnight stay.
Number of hotel rooms is still inadequate compared to Banaue. In other words, what counts are honest-to-goodness decent hotel rooms where tourists are to rest and sleep after trekking for a couple of hours.
Therefore, to achieve this, Lamut has to put up hotels, inns and other related accommodation facilities.
Secondly, the town also lacks restaurants and supermarkets to make it competitive. Good infrastructure program is Lamut’s passport in drawing more tourists.
Unfortunately, some quarters here are too engrossed in merely saying that the town’s caves among others are must-visit sites. Officials and tourism officers are too focused on the cave sites. They, therefore, can be more aggressive in getting investors who are to be enticed in constructing hotels, inns and supermarkets in Lamut.
-oOo-
By early or middle of April of this year, a new IFSU (Ifugao State University) president would already have been chosen.
The next IFSU president should roll up his sleeves and immediately buckle down to work. Lots, lots of work ahead await the “lucky one.”
98 years after it was founded, have we seen good results? Have we seen top-caliber agriculture graduates? Have we seen increased rising incomes of farmers, increased productivity in the agriculture sector and reduced poverty in Ifugao’s 11 towns? No.
For many agriculture students, completing their course in four or so years time is the next thing to do after enrolling at IFSU. It should no longer be the mindset of the students. There is a need to see what’s really going on and out of IFSU classrooms. I don’t know if there were changes in the agriculture curriculum then, but I’m so sure as heaven there are still lots of poor farmers in Ifugao, one of the most neglected and poorest provinces in the Philippines.
It is important to educate the young on their role as agriculture graduates in the promotion of food security in the country. Sadly, only a few Filipinos are now taking up agriculture in college.
As things stand, IFSU (and other state-operated universities and colleges) have a role in propelling agricultural growth and productivity. Why? Majority of poor people are in rural areas. The scandalous conditions of Filipinos who are living in abject poverty explains this all. I wish the incoming IFSU president will seriously tackle the problem of low agricultural productivity in Ifugao in relation to the overall effort of upgrading the standard of education in this institution. I fervently hope and pray that this will happen at the soonest time. The next IFSU president should prioritize this as a matter of serious import like reinventing the agriculture course.
How do we do this? Hold a consultation meeting with the students. Sit down with university student council officials and feel their pulse and hold a round-table discussion activity with student leaders and farmer organizations officers.
-oOo-
Congratulations to Mrs. Mary Babang for her string of successes in recent times. She manages the Riverview Polytechnic and Academy at Kiangan, Ifugao. An energetic educator, Mrs. Babang is instrumental for the school’s rise as one of the major learning institutions in the province. She is also a pillar of the Ifugao Global Entrepreneurs Multi-Purpose Cooperative (IGEMCO) where she is a board director. To Mrs. Babang: God bless and Mabuhay!
-o0o-
Bloopers in Ifugao: I saw the following sign at a gate in Lagawe: No Parking here. I kill you.
Another sign at a municipal government office in another town: No lunch brake.
Still, at another town. A sign near the municipal hall: No spitting of momma here. The next day, I passed by, the sign disappeared simply because it was completely covered by momma.
Lastly, at a house nearby IFSU-Lagawe campus, a sign says: “Wanted borders”
-o0o-
A tip for success: Share what you possess with the poor and needy out of gratitude to God, the sole and ultimate source of everything.
-o0o-
For our food delights corner: This time around for breakfast, let’s have beef tapa, scrambled eggs, boiled okra, fried rice and hot chocolate.
For desserts: suman and bananas. You won’t certainly forget if there’s hot pan de sal with yema fillings on the side. So there’s so much for breakfast. In short, it’s a big, big breakfast.
-oOo-
Some thoughts for our readers: “God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good.” (Gn 1:31)
“The Lord speaks of peace, peace for the people.” (Ps 85:9ab)
“The great sense of debate, the great engine of popular instruction and political controversy, is the legislative assembly. A speech there by an eminent statesman, a party movement, by a great political combination, are the best means yet known for arousing, enlivening and teaching a people.” William Bagehot, a British scholar and constitutionalist
“Capital and profit should not be more important than workers.” Fr. Erick Adoviso of Archdiocese of Manila’s Ministry for Labor Concerns**
