Recipe of the Week

Buko Melon Salad

Buko Melon Salad. If you are looking for buko salad for your events but tired of the usual buko pandan salad try these buko and melon combination topped with a buco melon sorbetes.

Ingredients:

20 pcs. buko, grated, buko water keep aside for other use

4 pcs. Melon, grated

3 cups condense milk

1 cup all-purpose creamer

For the Ice Cream:

1.3 liters Nestle’s Buco Melon Sorbetes ice cream

Method:

Combine and mix thoroughly all the ingredients in a big bowl. Chill in a refrigerator until ready to serve.

Sagada opens new tourist hubs, relaxes entry rules

BAGUIO CITY – Sagada, a town in Mountain Province famous for its hanging coffins on high cliffs and centuries old burial sites, has opened new places to visit for domestic and foreign tourists.

This was disclosed by Mayor Felicito Dula who said the new destinations are in the town’s southern zone composed of four villages -- Ankileng, Nacagan, Takkong and Suyo (ANTS) which launched what they called as the “Southern Sagada nature treat, tour and adventure.”

“Marami pang destination at kasama natin ang community sa pagbubukas at pag-welcome ng mga bisita para ma enjoy din nila ang iba pang magagandang lugar sa Sagada (there are still other destinations and we are one with the community in opening them and welcoming the visitors to enjoy the other beautiful places in Sagada),” Mayor Dula said in PNA’s Liza Agoot report.

Sagada, considered the Shangrila of the North, earlier relaxed entry rules that used to make visits to the town difficult and expensive for tourists.

The opening of additional tourist attractions in Sagada was earlier proposed to attract more tourists and put Sagada on the bucket list of local and international tourists.

Southern Sagada has the Obwa Canyon waterfalls, Takkong traditional burial grounds, Balangagan caves and the Pinumdeng skyline sunrise as among the attractions.

A camp site has been set up near the barangay hall of Suyo, which will have a tourist information center where coordination can be done and tour guides will be provided for the safety of the visitors aside from a ComPAC (Community Police Assistance Center).

Sagada, which has 19 villages, is divided into five zones -- central, south-central, northern, eastern, and southern zones.

The eastern zone, where the Marlboro Hills is located, is expected to be launched anytime.

Dula said most of the existing and pop- ular tourist destinations are located in central and south central zones like the EchoValley, Hanging Coffins, pottery, Sagada weaving, Bokong Falls and the Kiltepan sunrise, same as the town proper or Poblacion.

“They are ready to receive the tourists. The tour guides have been trained and accredited to bring the visitors and make them safe while in the village,” the mayor said.

Sagada has expressed confidence that its tourism industry will flourish anew, according to Mayor Dula, who said every weekend for about four weeks now, tourist arrivals are on the rise.

“We have recorded a total of 39,866 tourists who arrived from January 1 to September 30. There are also a small number of seminars and conferences already being held here,” the mayor said.

Pre-pandemic, Sagada averaged 140,000 tourists per year.

Sagada has lifted all entry requirements for tourists, including registration, Covid-19 test, and proof of full vaccination.

“We have decided to ease the restrictions because they prevent tourists from putting us on their list of areas to visit,” Dula said. “We had to move because tourism is the number one livelihood of the people in Sagada and making it difficult for tourists to enter our town will make it difficult also for our people to recover from the financial losses that resulted from the lockdowns.”

The mayor said locals own restaurants, inns, and souvenir shops while others are engaged in making processed items or serve as tour guides.

Based on a 2021 survey, Sagada has 12,300 residents who are directly engaged in tourism or related business activities

Culture preservation thru tourism

Councilor Jaime Dugao, the Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representative (IPMR) of the town, said during the launching of the southern Sagada nature treat, tour and adventure that Sagada’s tourism is not just about the place but most especially about the people and the culture.