NAKATAKDANG makipagpartner ang Department of Agriculture (DA) sa Department of Tourism (DOT) upang linangin ang Batanes islands bilang isang agri-tourism site ngayong taon.
Ayon kay Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol, natukoy niya ang Batanes islands bilang isang ‘agro-tourism destina-tion’ sa kanyang pagbisita sa lugar noong nakaraang linggo.
“In fact, right after I learned that [Agriculture] Undersecretary Bernadette [Romulo-Puyat] was appointed as tourism secretary, the future of Batanes became brighter because we can now tie up our programs,” wika ni Piñol.
Si Romulo-Puyat ay hinirang ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte noong nakaraang linggo bilang kapalit ni Wanda Teo.
Sinabi ng agriculture chief na ang partnership sa DOT ay mahalaga upang mapabilis ang paglalatag ng mga kina-kailangang proyekto, kabilang ang infrastructure plans, sa Batanes.
“It is hard to handle Batanes from purely agriculture and fisheries stand point,” ani Piñol. “For example, they need a lot of road construction. Not because they have a lot of vehicles running around but because even motorcycles cannot go around whenever it rains due to soft roads.”
Bukod sa road infrastructure, sinabi ng kalihim na kailangan din ng Batanes na magtayo ng mas maayos na daungan para mapabilis ang pagbiyahe ng mga turista at fisheries products sa loob at labas ng lalawigan.
“If you look at it from the stand point of agriculture and fisheries alone, you cannot justify it. You cannot justify the projects because the projects would be more expensive than the products that will be shipped,” aniya. “But if you will say it is a tourism destination, then we can justify it.”
Bukod dito, sinabi ni Piñol na plano rin ng DA na pagandahin ang isla na nagtataglay ng 2,000 kambing at Vushu island, na tahanan ng libo-libong free-range cows.
“One of their requests is to have a rain catcher for the goat island,” dagdag pa niya.
Sinabi pa ni Piñol na inatasan na niya ang MCS 3010, isang monitoring, control at surveillance vessel ng Bureau of Fish-eries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), na magpatrukya sa lugar upang maitaboy ang Taiwanese poachers sa sea territory ng bansa.
“Before, people were saying that the Taiwanese poachers are just around the area, in fact they are just in front of them. Kapag pinuntahan nila, iyong mga Taiwanese pa ang humahabol sa kanila,” aniya. “So, we have corrected this already. There has still been sightings [of Taiwanese poachers] but already became seldom.” JASPER ARCALAS
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