DEPARTMENT of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)-Cordillera Administrative Region Director Ralph Pablo is not closing his doors to agro-tourism in Mount Sto. Tomas.
Pablo said once the master development plan for the area is approved and completed talks on how to open it for agro tourism may ensue.
Pablo said the Mt. Santo Tomas Forest Reserve Council has been convened manned by fifteen stakeholders set to finalize plans for the mountain.
The environment official stressed the order to ban entry of construction materials for the area as well as tourists flocking the mountaintop stands.
Residents must follow environmental laws as well as a no build policy. Existing structures area, however, are not barred as Pablo reminded they are part of the master plan crafted by the department.
Pablo said if not for the hit ABS-CBN telenovela “Forevermore,” which catapulted the area into stardom, there would no deluge of visitors.
La Presa, the imaginary village created by the series, is actually Sitio Pungayan in Santo Tomas which has become an instant tourist spot since the TV series was aired years ago.
Pablo said careful planning must be undertaken if and when it is decided to open the area for tourism.
The mountain is a water source for residents and visitors, including downstream communities including Tuba, Benguet and Rosario in La Union.
The DENR has since filed cases against illegal settlers who insist to set up structures in Mt. Santo Tomas.
At least 13 cases of violations against Presidential Decree 705, known as the Revised Forestry Code of the Philippines, are pending in the courts.
Mt. Santo Tomas was the site where the now controversial project of former Baguio Representative Nicasio Aliping’s has been stopped.
The area was also the subject of an ongoing case and is under a Temporary Protection Order when former Bishop Carlito Cenzon filed for a Writ of Kalikasan to protect the watershed.
The final master plan will set into perspective a plan for rehabilitation of the mountain making issues of soil erosion and denudation a priority.