BONTOC, MTN. PROVINCE – Sadanga Mayor Gabino Ganggangan issued Executive Order No. 18, s. 2020 that prohibits the use of the road within the territorial jurisdiction of the municipality by tourists in going to nearby Tinglayan, Kalinga especially to Buscalan to see the local tattoo legend, Whang-od.
The Executive Order dated July 28, 2020 emphasized the prohibition of travel to tourists bound for Tinglayan. It says particularly in Section 3 that “Any tourist trying to pass thru the territorial jurisdiction of Sadanga to or from Buscalan shall be denied entry at Ampawilen checkpoint and sent back to the place of origin”.
Tourists would take a longer route from Tabuk as the Bontoc to Tinglayan route is the only shortcut leading to the town of the “sleeping beauty”.
The mayor’s act gained approval from followers in the social media as seen in posts on facebook. However, the action has also invited detractors from others and even from the government.
Tinglayan Mayor Sacramento Gumilab asked Governor Bonifacio Lacwasan, Jr. and the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Mountain Province to declare the said executive order null and void for being inconsistent with the 1987 Constitution and the laws of the Philippines.
Citing Section 30 of the Local Government Code on the review of executive orders that states “. . . the governor shall review all executive orders promulgated by . . . municipal mayors within their jurisdiction”.
The letter dated August 3, 2020 also invoked the impairment of the Constitutional right to travel for any citizen. Section 6, Article 111 of the Constitution provides that; “Neither shall the right to travel be impaired except in the interest of national security, public safety, or public health, as may be provided by law.”
“Undoubtedly, the assailed EO impairs the right of tourists bound for Tinglayan of their right to travel as they will be denied entry to the territorial jurisdiction of Sadanga, which incidentally is a necessary access route to take in order to go to the Municipality of Tinglayan . . . “
The EO is also called unconstitutional for violation of the right of equal protection of the laws.
The letter cited that the concept of equal protection requires all persons or things similarly situated should be treated alike as to rights and responsibilities.
Mayor Ganggangan, during separate occasions, has been claiming that tourists visiting Buscalan presumably to see Whang-od but have been there to acquire and bring back home marijuana. Proof of this are the apprehensions and confiscations of marijuana in Bontoc and in other places on the way home from Tinglayan.
But Tinglayan Mayor Gumilab claims in the letter that the reason of Sadanga Mayor Ganggangan is based on flawed logic to support a conclusion that tourists visiting Tinglayan especially Buscalan have an illegal purpose to get marijuana.
Arrests of few tourists is also a confirmation that not all tourists going to Buscalan are marijuana traders. “They may have been picking small amounts for personal use but not in large scale”, claims a resident of the province.
Doubts also persist on whether tourists had been involved in gun running which have also been cited in support of the move against the Sadanga EO.
Sadanga Mayor Ganggangan, in a telephone interview, said that Mayor Gumilab including other detractors missed the point of the EO.
He confirms that his EO has indeed no legal basis that explains why none were cited in the “whereases’.
“They could have cited in one sentence that my EO has no legal basis. The long and articulate discussion against my EO circled only on the issue of legality but sadly it lost sight of the main issue. . .”
The stoppage of the illegal marijuana trade, which is being conducted in the guise of tourism, is claimed by Mayor Ganggangan to be the main point of the EO.
He said that tourists go to Buscalan in the guise of availing the tattoo services of Whang-od but to get marijuana plants and by-products.
Mayor Ganggangan challenged and call on those who may be truly concerned to help in stopping the marijuana trade.
He took swipe at the claim of Mayor Gumilab that the travel ban includes iTinglayans and iKalingas.
“My EO intends to ban only the tourists bound for the marijuana producing barangays. All people from Kalinga are not included in the ban as they cannot be tourists in their own home community or province”, stated Mayor Ganggangan in his face book post.
He even suggested that the Department of Tourism may have to find a good “puesto” for Whang-od to practice her tattoo trade in Baguio or Manila for the benefit of the tourists at less cost and to see if the marijuana growers will still prosper in their illegal plants.
The marijuana plantations are allegedly located in various barangays in the municipality of Tinglayan or along the boundaries between Tinglayan and Sadanga.
As to the response or action on his EO, Mayor Ganggangan leaves it to the discretion of the governor as the addressee in the letter.
Atty. Michael Patting, executive assistant V at the Provincial Governor’s Office, said that the EO might be rescinded saying that “total prohibition of travel ban is inimical to liberty”.**Roger Sacyaten
