BANAUE Vice Mayor Joel Bungallon said a public hearing was concluded to amend the tourism law of the town and accommodate changes.
Bungallon said the public hearing focused on raising the environmental fees to a standard P50 and the centralized loading and unloading of buses.
The vice mayor said a standardized fee must be collected from visitors upon entry and registration to the town’s tourism center where the loading and unloading of passengers will be stationed for public transport.
Tourism has become one of the leading sources of income for the people of Ifugao, the area being one of the top destinations in the country today, because of the Batad Rice Terraces Bangaan Rice Terraces, Nagadacan Rice Terraces, Mayoyao Rice Terraces and Hapao Rice Terraces.
Bungallon said the registration is both for the safety of visitors as well as for the town to keep track of all who pass through the tourist town.
The central loading and unloading area is eyed to have a convergence of public transport in a bid to lessen congestion in the town as well as to efficiently log tourist registration.
The Banaue Rice Terraces is a 2,000-year-old structure carved into the mountains of Ifugao by ancestors of the indigenous people.
The rice terraces use an ancient irrigation system from the rainforests above the terraces. It is said that if the steps were put end to end, it would encircle half the globe.
Surveys shows Baguio city’s mountain resort still tops Cordilleran destinations followed by Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga, Mountain Province with Apayao and Abra tailing behind as destinations.
Ifugao is still the top of tourism lists for local and foreign visitors for breathtaking view of the renowned terraces.
After the public hearing, the input of stakeholders will be studied and incorporated into the law proposed law.