Investors wanted for $2-b project

By Cecille Garcia - Manila Standard

A KOREAN developer has vowed to campaign to entice Korean and Filipino investors to build a $2-billion tourism complex on Mt. Tapulao in Zambales, Central Luzon’s highest mountain, and transform it into one of Asia’s top tourist destinations. Dongho Co. has also promised to invite the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank to build a road network to connect the proposed 450-hectare complex to the outside world.

“The Mt. Tapulao eco-tourism project should be integrated and made part of the new economic corridor to uplift the tourism industry in Central Luzon,” said Sang-Hyun Park, vice chairman of Dongho’s Overseas Projects division. Dongho made a study of the 17,809-hectare Mt. Tapulao and its potential as a top tourist destination in April at the invitation of Zambales Gov. Amor Deloso. On July 24, it presented the results saying it’s possible to build five-star hotels, casinos and spas, sports facilities, condominiums and villas in the area.

The same study says the provincial government could lease the area to investors for 25 years, with an option to renew the lease for another 25. Deloso says the project has the full backing of his province and the governors of Bataan, Pampanga, Tarlac, Bulacan and Nueva Ecija—provinces that will be given 10 hectares each at the complex to build pavilions showcasing their products. But provincial officials say Mt. Tapulao must first be declared a protected area and a mining-free zone through a presidential proclamation to ensure the environment is preserved. The mayor of Palauig town, Generoso Amog, says mining is destroying parts of the mountain, which should be preserved for nature lovers including trekkers and campers.

Looking for financing to develop the area can start once the place is declared protected and closed to destructive exploitation, he says. Amog, the same official who invited Dongho to do a study on Mt. Tapulao’s potential, says financing is critical to transforming the mountain into a tourist haven and boosting the economy of the towns surrounding it.

“Despite the beauty and biodiversity [of Mt. Tapulao], the local government unit concerned cannot fully develop the place because of the insufficiency of public funds,” he said in his letter to the Korean developer.