THE city's environment movement views this as a chance to reassess the present state of the countries summer capital without disrupting its tourism industry.
In the weekly ‘Talakayan sa Environmental Code’, BRM chairman Erdolfo Balajadia said it is an opportunity for the city to look at areas needing rehabilitation.
“This move by the tourism department should be treated as an eye opener.
This is an opportunity for us to strategically and logically look for ways on how we should handle the rehabilitation process and not as a negative issue,” said Cordelia Lacsamana, City Environment and Parks Management Office (CEPMO) Chief.
“From the development point of view, I think it is necessary for Baguio City to undergo with the closure, we need to rehabilitate for the longest time. Boracay is a pride of the Philippines but we cannot sustain our tourism when you are promoting something which is already destroyed,” he added.
The CEPMO chief believes that the governments priority is to protect and conserve the natural environment in the country because everyone knows the countries environment are our asset and source of income.
Lacsamana said “I don't think the closure is very literal, we should take it as an opportunity to rehabilitate and make things better. There is going to be a downside but I think we should look at the long term view of the so called closure an opportunity to make things better.”
Lacsamana added, “Closure is not possible for Baguio but from the development point of view, we should take this as an opportunity that at least, the national government is looking very closely at not only preserving Baguio City still to the environmental jewel of the north, and then to promote the welfare primarily of the citizens and the tourists who are coming.”
The Department of Tourism (DOT) has earlier stated that they are also looking at the possibility of rehabilitating other tourism sites in the Philippines, including Baguio.