10 November 2004 All set for the 6th Mt. Pinatubo Trek - Adventure Travel
The Department of Tourism, through its Central Luzon regional office, will hold the 6th Mt. Pinatubo Trek via the Capas, Tarlac route on November 30, 2004.
According to DOT Regional Director Ronaldo Tiotuico, the annual trekking event aims to promote and develop Mt. Pinatubo as an ecotourism destination in the country and, at the same time, help build a better quality of life for the indigenous host communities living in the area through travel and tourism.
Eight years after the volcano’s disastrous eruption on June 15, 1991, the Mt. Pinatubo Trek started in November 1999, after the discovery of an access trail system that leads to the bowels of the volcano in Bgy. Sta Juliana, Capas, Tarlac.
The trek is part of DOT-Region III’s “Kabuhayan sa Turismo” program also launched in 1999 to create jobs and alternative livelihood for indigenous groups and residents of depressed villages in Tarlac and Pampanga.
Around 60 Aetas now work as guides and porters to tourists who want to get a feel of Mt. Pinatubo. The “Kabuhayan sa Turismo” program, on the other hand, has received awards from international and national associations for being the best community-based sustainable ecotourism project. These awards include those given by the Pacific Asia Travel Association and the ASEAN Tourism Association as well as the local travel industry’s Kalakbay Award.
A registration fee of P1,000 is required of each participant to help fund the Mt. Pinatubo Conservation Plan and Ecotourism Development Program. This fee is inclusive of use of a 4 x 4 all-weather vehicle, certificate of conquest, dinner, and souvenir t-shirt.
Part of the trek’s proceeds will also be donated to the community of Bgy. Sta. Juliana where eighty percent of the 3,000 population belongs to the Aeta ethnic group.
The Mt. Pinatubo Trek is co-sponsored by the Angeles City Four Wheelers Club which will provide transportation to the participants.
Those interested to join the trek may e-mail dot3@pldtdsl.net, call (045) 961-2665/2612, or send “Txt Confirm” to 700DOT(368).
