Misor opens P16m tourism complex

By Jigger J. Jerusalem
Correspondent

DESPITE the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the provincial government of Misamis Oriental has inaugurated the P16 million tourism complex and botanical garden yesterday.

The inauguration has coincided with the commemoration of the Cebu Pacific Flight 5J387 crash that killed 104 passengers and crew in Mt. Sumagaya mountain range, on the boundary of Gingoog City and Claveria town, on Feb. 2, 1998.

Gov. Yevgeny Vincente Emano said what was opened to the public was the first phase of the tourism-boosting project, the funds of which were mainly sourced from the local government’s share of the sales from power producers operating in the province through the Energy Regulation (ER) 1-94.

At least two large-scale companies, Steag State Power Inc. and FDC Misamis Power Corp., both located in Villanueva town, engaged in electricity generation have to power plants in the province.

Sitting on a two-hectare land, the tourist site has coffee shops, fruit stands, camping areas, flower gardens, and other amenities to help promote food tourism, and historical and cultural tourism in the province said provincial tourism officer Jeffrey Saclot.

With the completion of the complex’s first phase, Saclot said they expect more tourists to come to Misamis Oriental, although he assured that the health protocol set by the national government will be strictly implemented as a preventive measure to prevent the coronavirus infection from spreading.

He said the tourist destination “aims to encourage people to have a wider array of options when visiting the area by boasting of amenities and attractions previously known to be available only from neighboring provinces.”

Saclot added expansion of the complex is still in the pipeline.

Branding it with “Explore MisOr More,” promoting and developing the tourism industry in the province has been one of the governor’s priority programs since he assumed office in 2013.

In his message during the tourism site’s inauguration, Emano said the project is a “milestone that will cement Misamis Oriental into the tourism map of the Philippines.”

The complex, Emano said, “will also present new opportunities for livelihood for many Misamisnons due to the expected influx of tourists.”

Due to the area’s cold weather, the governor said the stretch of land located along Highway 955 between Gingoog and Claveria might as well become the summer capital of Misamis Oriental, if not the whole of Mindanao.

Since the highway was opened a few years ago, it served as a diversion road that cuts short travel time from western Misamis Oriental to the province’s eastern towns and vice versa.

Establishments such as restaurants, coffee shops, and other places of interest have also opened near or beside Highway 955.

Also located in the complex is the 20-foot Flight 5J387 shrine, a structure dedicated to those who perished in what is now considered one of the worst air disasters in the country’s aviation history.

Since it was erected about 20 years ago, the families of those who were killed during the crash and groups of volunteers who helped in the retrieval of the passengers’ remains have visited the shrine during the anniversary of the tragic event.