Outdoor adventure enthusiasts will soon be required to wear complete protective gear and must be accompanied by experienced tour guides when canyoneering in southwestern Cebu.
These are part of the guidelines crafted by the municipal governments of Badian, Alegria and Malabuyoc alongside the province’s disaster management officials and tour operators in a meeting last Monday.
Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) chief Baltazar Tribunalo said the three local government units (LGUs) committed to approve an ordinance for this purpose.
Stakeholders gave positive feedback to the guidelines and are more than willing to implement it as soon as possible, Tribunalo added.
The ban on canyoneering activities will be lifted once the guidelines will be established, he said.
The move to regulate the activity came in the wake of the death of a 26-year-old local tour guide who accompanied 22 tourists during a heavy downpour last August.
Aldrin Carba, known among outdoor adventure seekers as “Ya Man,” jumped at the Kanlaob River in Alegria town but failed to resurface due to the strong current.
The trail which opens in barangay Compostela in Alegria town and leads to the Kawasan Falls in Badian used to attract 100 tourists each weekend before the incident. “Hopefully with this, we’ll avoid future accidents,” Tribunalo said.
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
