BAUKO, Mountain Province – Mayor Abraham B. Aklit announced that the Department of Transportation and Railways (DOTR) approved the operation of a Bauko-based transport cooperative to help in providing adequate transport services for people wanting to visit the scenic tourist spots of the municipality in the future.
The local chief executive revealed that the Igorot Transport Cooperative is composed of 12 van for hire operators who will be providing sufficient transport services not only for residents but also visitors wanting to go to any point of Luzon.
“WE are elated over the positive action of concerned government agencies relative to the long overdue application of the local transport sector for accreditation so that they will be issued the appropriate license plate numbers that will legitimize their operation. We want to continue improving providing our people with stress-free and convenient travel around the Luzon area that is why we tried to work hard in securing the required accreditation of our interested transport operators from the DOTR,” Mayor Akilit stressed.
He added that the transport cooperative is still in need of individuals interested to become members provided that they will have brand new vans that will be placed under the name of the cooperative so that they will be able to cater to the growing transportation requirements of residents and visitors wanting to go around the various tourist destinations not only in the province but also in other places in Luzon.
According to him, the vans of the cooperative will be available for hire so that people can freely move around their desired destinations at their own pace and for them to maximize their visit to the places which they intend to visit while spending their well-deserved vacation.
Akilit underscored that the existence of scenic tourist destinations in the different barangays of the town is considered to be its untapped assets that will contribute in spurring economic growth, thus, the transport sector must also be improved so that visitors will be enticed to frequent the locality and spend more time exploring its available destinations.
Bauko plays host to majestic and towering mountains, waterfalls, trekking destinations, vegetable gardens among others which are being frequented by thousands of foreign and domestic visitors wanting to look for other destinations aside from those that have been already advertised.
He claimed the accreditation of the local transport cooperative has been a product of collaborative efforts between the local government, the concerned government agencies and the town’s private sector to provide the people with adequate transport services for easy access around the existing destinations.
The municipal mayor expressed his gratitude to all those who were instrumental in the realization of the accreditation of the local transport sector because it will surely provide a big boost in improving the provision of sufficient transport services to the residents and visitors alike, especially that the town is now an emerging tourist destination in the Cordillera.
Bauko also plays host to the Mount Data watershed that serve as the headwaters of the Chico, Agno, Magat and Abra rivers providing abundant water supply for power generation, industrial, irrigation, agricultural and domestic uses.
By HENT