Sunday, March 12, 2006
Eco-tourism site rises in Malungon town
WITH Mt. Apo in the background and overlooking the Sarangani Bay as well as a dramatic nighttime view of this city, "Diamond Head" resort and convention center in Malungon, Sarangani province looms large as the next tourism attraction in the area.
Sitting in a 14-hectare mango plantation, the facility is now open for conventions although development works are still ongoing towards a virtually full-scale commercial tourism venture.
"I want to show to the people that farms can become multi-income earner. You just don't depend on the crops but try to make good out of everything that has business potential," said owner Benjamin Figueroa.
"The place has a natural view of the surrounding sceneries," Figueroa added.
Figueroa plans to sell his properties in Koronadal City to bankroll the further development of the farm into an attractive tourism destination.
Presently, four halls are in place in the farm. Each hall could accommodate 50 people at one time.
The materials used in the construction basically came from the farm like trees as old as 30 years, he said.
Figueroa is adding more facilities to the farm -- a three-story building designed to accommodate a 50-sitting capacity restaurant, rooms that could house 50 beds, and a 100-seater convention center.
"These are targeted for completion in six months and after which would signal our full-blast commercial operation," said Figueroa.
Eventually, a swimming pool would also be constructed in the farm to further make it a weekend family destination. Likewise, up for future implementation is the building of sleeping cottages and campsites for backpackers.
Figueroa's farm is just along the General Santos City-Davao City highway. It is less than a kilometer from the headquarters of the 601st Infantry Brigade in Sitio Pulatana, Barangay Malandag in Malungon town. The farm is easy to locate with a marker that says "Helipad."
Although the farm is not yet officially named "Diamond Head," Figueroa said, the place might be named as such, after a diamond-shaped hill in the middle of the property.
Initially, Figueroa envisioned his farm only as an exclusive retreat place for family and friends.
But all that changed when a group of 25 American tourists asked his permission to jog the winding trails around his farm for a thousand pesos.
The wild trails are now gone, concrete foot-walks have been built over them as part of development efforts to make the place a tourist drawer.
Figueroa said the other attractions in his farm are the assorted flowers and mountain vegetables that he planted in the last four years.
In between his mango trees, he is also cultivating tuba-tuba (jatropha curcas), a rich source of biodiesel that is considered an alternative to the depleting global supply of fossil fuels.
"Sarangani is actually ideal for the growth of this lucrative crop called in Ilonggo as "kasla," he said.
Figueroa plans to develop a two-hectare tuba-tuba demonstration farm in his property to entice more farmers to grow the crop. At present, he has planted some 1,000 seedlings within the property.
"The presence of these plants-mango, flowers, wood trees and even tuba-tuba-are part of the general strategy to make the place an eco-tourism destination," he noted.
"Besides rest, recreation and convention, I want this farm to be a practical farming learning center... Tuba-tuba could be the future of Sarangani farmers." (RBS)
For Bisaya stories from General Santos.Click here. (This section is updated every Monday)
(March 6, 2006 issue)
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