North Cotabato may tap Bb Pilipinas Universe Lastimosa as eco-tourism endorser

NORTH COTABATO – The Department of Tourism (DOT) and the North Cotabato provincial government will embark on more eco-tourism initiatives with the newly-crowned Binibining Pilipinas Mary Jean “MJ” Lastimosa as the potential endorser.

Lastimosa, who bested 39 other candidates in the 2014 Binibining Pilipinas pageant last March 30 at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City, hails from North Cotabato’s Tulunan town. Her feat had also won for the moniker North Cotabato's "eco-tourism envoy" to the world.

Nelly Dillera, director of the DOT for Region 12, said they will tap the regional and provincial tourism councils to help lure more tourists into the province, which has potential eco-tourism sites scattered in its 17 towns and its capital Kidapawan City.

Kidapawan City is at the foot of the majestic Mt. Apo, the country’s highest peak at more than 12,000 feet above sea level, and teems with tropical rainforests that are natural habitats for wildlife, including the rare Philippine Eagle.

North Cotabato Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza assured to exhaust her authority and influence to help push the DOT-12’s tourism thrusts in the province.

Provincial planners and researchers are now drafting feasible joint eco-tourism programs that Mendoza’s office and the DOT-12 can embark on, with an added boost --- that of Lastimosa's being potential promoter.

Mendoza had earlier thanked Dillera for having showcased the socio-economic and eco-tourism potentials of North Cotabato to the residents of Iloilo City in the Visayas during last month’s “12th Paradise” exhibit there.

The DOT-12 had put up on a good show in Iloilo City of what Visayans can see when they come to Central Mindanao both for tourism and business purposes.

The tourism venture, which lasted for almost a week, gave officials, among them representatives from the Region 12 office of the Department of Trade and Industry, and North Cotabato's provincial government, a chance to reach out to the local communities and prospective investors in Iloilo City and surrounding towns.

The DTI-12's regional director, Ibrahim Guimadel, was represented in the Iloilo tourism activity by trade and industry development specialist Dagny Aquino-Martirizar.

The project, dubbed “Luring Iloilo to the 12th Paradise,” was the first of its kind, according to Dillera.

The 12th tourism paradise groups the eco-tourism and trading sites in the adjoining provinces of North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, South Cotabato, Sarangani, and the cities of Cotabato, Koronadal, Tacurong, and General Santos.

All of the four provinces in Region 12 have predominantly Ilonggo towns, whose residents are mostly descendants of peasant settlers from Iloilo and other parts of Panay that came to settle in fertile lands in Central Mindanao before World War II.

Mendoza said considerable improvements in North Cotabato’s socio-economic and eco-tourism landscape, as a result of Lastimosa’s having been crowned Binibining Pilipinas 2014, are now being felt by the local communities.

“MJ (Lastimosa) helped create a good socio-economic and eco-tourism climate in our province,” Mendoza said.

The provincial government is now preparing for a welcome rite for Lastimosa at the provincial capitol compound in Amas District in Kidapawan City on April 8.

Dillera said the DOT-12 will send representatives to the event. Lastimosa will represent the Philippines to the 2014 Miss Universe pageant.