ANGARA BATS FOR ECO-TOURISM IN BICOL

Bicol Senator Edgardo J. Angara today said that the region can bank on the world-famous Mayon Volcano to anchor its eco-tourism program, on its abaca fiber to make products for the global market and on its highly-trained people to create satellites for the business processing jobs right in the major urban centers here.

Bicol is a region of awesome natural assets and a highly-skilled people. It is a very competitive region, said Angara .

Angara said that very few active volcanoes in the world with the shape of Mayor, which physical beauty remains unscathed despite several eruptions.

It is one tourist attraction that can place Bicol in the global tourism map, said Angara . What is needed, he said, is a marketing program to sell Mayon to the tourism world.

Angara said that a fresh, global interest in native fibers can be redirected to market abaca as a versatile fiber.

What used to be known as Manila Hemp is abaca woven into sturdy ropes with had all sorts of industrial uses. But abaca is more than ropes and cordage. It can serve many other uses as well, including fashion, he added.

Angara said that the Department of Agriculture and the Fiber Industry Development Authority (FIDA) should pool research and development work on native fibers, principally abaca, to find out what global niches can be found for these fibers.

The billion-dollar industry of high fashion and haute couture is now into native fibers, mostly tropical fibers, and this is the right moment for our fibers to break into the global market, said Angara .

Angara said that the Bicol Region is known for its bright and talented people and his late brother-in-law, famous lawyer Greg Castillo, and his teammate in TU, Joker Arroyo, are proof of this.

Angara said that the region can supply contact centers and other BPO establishments which will relocate in urban centers here with a steady pool of highly-skilled manpower..

Angara said there are great schools in the urban centers of the region and the migration into Bicol of people from other provinces has given a multicultural air to the Bicolandia.

I advise major BPOs now based in Metro Manila, Davao and Cebu to relocate in the Bicol Region, he said.

Castillo, who was married to Angara s younger sister, Aurora Governor Bella Angara-Castillo, was number one in his bar examination and founded one of the biggest and most reputable law offices in the country.