Alegria not affected by Badian’s closure of its canyoneering trails

ALEGRIA town Mayor Verna Magallon said the 7-day temporary closure of canyoneering activities in neighboring Badian town will not affect similar operations in her municipality.

Magallon said she sees no problem of the neighboring town closing a portion of the Kanlaob river, also known as Matutinao River, from Aug. 12 to 18 for rehabilitation.

“Wala koy nakita problema (I don’t see any problem) with regards to that,” Magallon said in a text message to CDN.

The Matutinao river, which traverses both towns, is the nerve center of the towns’ canyoneering activities.

She added that canyoneering operations in Alegria will not be affected by the closure since after the seventh jump, tourists will be heading back to the entry point in Barangay Compostela, Alegria.

“After sa 7th jump, mosaka ra man ang mga guests padung balik sa (guests will climb back to) Barangay Compostela of Alegria,” she added.

Asked if they were informed about the temporary closure in Badian, Magallon said she does not know about the plan.

Cebu Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale said on Thursday that Badian and Alegria should have a joint consultation with regards to the closure.

She however lauded the efforts of the local government in Badian to conduct a river cleanup.

Magallon said that despite the absence of any closure, they are rehabilitating their canyoneering trail every last Monday of the month since 2016.

“We’ve been doing cleanup drive at our canyoneering area every last Monday of the month for almost two years now,” she said.

Based on the resolution which was approved by local officials of Badian last May 22, starting from the portion of the river where the drop off site in Barangay Sulsogan, Badian is up to the Matutinao bridge will be temporarily closed for rehabilitation.

Tourist providers were also sent advisories so as not to be affected by the scheduled closure, the resolution added.