THE City Government of Bago is hosting this year's Mount Kanlaon Natural Park (MKNP) Festival beginning Tuesday, August 9, until August 11.
Dubbed "Halad kay Kang-laon," the fourth edition of the festivity is themed "Pagsanyog sang Kumunidad, Nasandig sa Pag-amlig sang Dunang Manggad."
Aside from Bago City, the three-day event will also be participated by five other member-local government units (LGUs), including La Carlota City, La Castellana, San Carlos City and Murcia in Negros Occidental, and Canlaon City in Negros Oriental.
Mae Ann Furtos, senior tourism operations officer of Bago City, said the annual activity in collaboration with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and Protected Area Management Board (Pamb), among other stakeholders, is aimed at promoting ecotourism at the natural park.
Furtos said the festivity is also poised to continue to awaken the consciousness of the community, especially on the protection and conservation of the environment including the MKNP which is being considered as the last frontier of the Negros forest.
"Bago City is host to the largest forested area in the entire MKNP," she said, adding that the festival is also poised to further strengthen various environmental advocacies as well as the cooperation among every member-LGU.
A Trade Fair Agri-Booth Competition will open the festivity at the city's Bantayan Park at 10 a.m. today. It will be led by Bago City Mayor
Nicholas Yulo, among other local officials.
In the afternoon, there will be a press presentation of the candidates for the Diwata kag Suta sang Kanlaon 2022 at the Bago City Community Center.
It will be followed by the Earth Concert and Fellowship Night at the Bantayan Park.
On the second day, the activities include Mountain Bike (MTB) Challenge from Bantayan Park to Barangay Ilijan; Tree Growing Activity at Barangay Ilijan; Super-sized Canvas Painting and Body Painting Contest at the Buenos Aires Mountain Resort in Barangay Ilijan; and Diwata kag Suta sang Kanlaon 2022 and Creative Dance Contest at the Manuel Y. Torres Memorial Coliseum and Cultural Center.
Part of the event on the third day is the half day farm tour activity at the Buenos Aires Mountain Resort Hilltop Garden, Lunao Coffee Farm and Chris Fadriga Cacao Nursery.
Capping the festivity are the closing ceremonies, street dance and festival dance presentation, also at the Bantayan Park.
For Bago City, Furtos said, the local government is giving importance to its environmental advocacy.
The city hosts the Bago Watershed and Bago River that provide livelihood to thousands of farmers in the province by providing them water being irrigated to their farms, she said.
Bago City is also part of the Negros Occidental Wetlands declared as the seventh Ramsar Site in the Philippines and East Asian-Australasian Flyway Site.
Furtos said the southern Negros Occidental locality is also home to Irrawaddy dolphin which is considered as endangered and shy-type species of dolphin.
"Our local environmental programs and other initiatives really have international impact," she said, assuring that the City Government will continue to take necessary measures to protect and conserve the environment while developing its tourism sector. (PR)