BAGUIO CITY – There is no truth to news reports circulating over the social media that Baguio City will be closed to tourism starting November allegedly upon orders of President Rodrigo Duterte.
This was stressed by Mayor Mauricio Domogan who on Tuesday dismissed the report as a hoax.
“Fake news,” he said of the report stressing that the city has not received any order or directive from the President relative to the closure.
He said it is true that the city has many concerns but these can be addressed without resorting to closure like what was done to Boracay Island.
Boracay is different in such a way that the violations were rampant and that the place has only one access point while Baguio is a mountain resort and the gateway to the Cordillera region, the mayor said.
The mayor said some hotel ownerss expressed concern that the fake news making the rounds over social network Facebook had started to affect their businesses after some clients cancelled their reservations believing that the information was true.
Some officials of the association of Koreans in the city also aired the same worry, according to the mayor.
City tourism operations officer Aloysius Mapalo asked how the city can be subject to closure at this time when the city has even mounted its 1st Creative Festival.
He asked people to be more discerning with what they read and read at social media.
“Know what’s fake!” he said.
Last Nov. 5, Tourism Undersecretary Marco Bautista was in the city and announced that they will undertake a rigid evaluation and assessment of resort destinations in Northern Luzon including Baguio City, Pangasinan, La Union, Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, and the heritage destinations of Banaue, Ifugao and Vigan City in Ilocos Sur.
He reportedly said “this aims to determine whether the extent of damages inflicted by the robust tourism industry in the said places will warrant possible closure and rehabilitation like what was done to Boracay.”
Bu still the pronouncement did not say outright closure for Baguio as what was claimed in the fake news.**By Aileen P. Refuerzo