Firm completes study on $2-B project in Zambales

PALAUIG, ZAMBALES, Philippines — A Korean urban planner and developer has completed a feasibility study for Mt. Tapulao, which the local government wants to turn into a major tourist destination in Asia.

The development blueprint involves the construction of five-star hotels, leisure facilities, casinos, concert halls, condominiums and villas, as well as an 18-hole golf course within a 450-hectare area of the mountain.

The $2-billion project will be patterned after Genting Highlands in Malaysia, and Yeosu Hwayang Tourism Complex and Gampo Complex in Gyeongju City, both in Korea, said Sang-Hyun Park, vice-chairman and director for Overseas Project division of Korean developer Dongho Co., Ltd.

Proponents claimed the project would uplift living standards with minimal damage to the environment.

In April, the South Korean firm signed a deal with Governor Amor Deloso for the feasibility study. The governor said Mt. Tapulao has a semi-temperate climate similar to that of the Cordillera province and can rival Baguio City, the country’s summer capital. Tapulao in the local language means pine tree, which the mountain has plenty of.

Also known as the Zambales high peak, Mt. Tapulao rises to 2,037 meters above sea level and forms a contiguous chain of mountains in Central Luzon.

Dongho specializes in developing blueprints for urban development while minimizing its effects on the environment.

Dongho will plan, design and monitor before, during and after the construction of various development projects.

It will provide services involving water quality management, air pollution prevention, erosion, waste treatment and recycling.

Palauig Mayor Generoso Amog said the project would bring progress to his town. "We welcome the Mt. Tapulao project because it will surely bring economic growth to our town," he said.

On Wednesday, the mayor led a protest march calling for the declaration of Mt. Tapulao as a mining-free zone. They want to turn the mountain into an eco-tourism site instead.

Mr. Amog blamed mining activities in some sections of the mountain, whose summit is supposedly in danger of collapsing.

"Right now, Mt. Tapulao is in grave danger, which could be saved by the proposed eco-tourism project," he said. He said the peak would be preserved for mountain trekkers, campers and nature lovers.

Under the blueprint, a road network will be developed to complement the recently opened Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway via a new access road traversing the nearby town of Botolan to Tarlac province. — Reynaldo M. Garcia, BusinessWorld

Group protests destruction of mountain in Zambales

PALAUIG, ZAMBALES – The Olongapo-Zambales civil society network, composed of nongovernment organizations pushing Mt. Tapulao here as a mining-free area, staged a protest march in this town on Wednesday to save the mountain from miners and turn it into an ecotourism site.

Mayor Generoso Amog said he is leading moves to declare Tapulao, which Americans used to call “High Peak,” into a “protected area or protected landscape.”

Local officials said pine trees abound in Tapulao, one of the highest peaks in Central Luzon, and its unspoiled environment could rival the attractions of Baguio and Tagaytay cities. They said the mountain has at least eight waterfalls.

Amog said because of mining activities in some of its sections, Tapulao is now “in grave danger.”

“Right now, the miners are tunneling all over the mountain in search for ore and they are putting the summit in danger of collapsing,” he said.

Councilor Eric Alba said mining companies have long been in the area because of chromite ore abundant in Mt. Tapulao.

Amog said the local government and other groups are appealing for the cancellation of the license issued to the C-Square Mining Co., which, he said, has been operating in Mt. Tapulao since he was a boy.

“We are trying to move [to] declare the area a ‘mine-free area,’” he said.

Amog said he hopes to turn Mt. Tapulao into an ecotourism site when C-Square’s permit expires next month.

“That’s why we are appealing to President Macapagal-Arroyo to declare Mt. Tapulao as a protected area so we can turn this into an eco-site for future generations,” he said.

“If we lose Mt. Tapulao to miners, then we would lose a very beautiful spot in Zambales. I hope it doesn’t go to waste,” he said.

Zambales Gov. Amor Deloso said the mining permit granted to C-Square came “from the national level.”

“They have been there for a long, long time,” he said. By Robert Gonzaga - Philippine Daily Inquirer