Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Christina Garcia-Frasco has urged local government units (LGUs) across the country to develop a park within their jurisdictions to promote the culture of tourism from generation to generation.
Frasco affirmed DOT’s support for the development of parks during her keynote address at the opening of the 1st Philippine Parks Congress at the Rizal Park Open Air Auditorium on Thursday. Nov. 24.
“Parks are important because it allows us and our families to commune with nature, to spend quality time with each other, and to remind us that despite how busy life may get, we must always take time to relax, unwind, and spend time to be in touch with nature and commune with the Earth,” Frasco said.
“The Department of Tourism extends its full support to the efforts of the national parks as well as our attached agencies to continue to develop the culture of tourism, which includes the continued development of our parks not only here in the National Capital Region (NCR) but also all over the Philippines," she added.
Frasco confirmed that the DOT and its concerned attached agencies have already reached out to the LGUs to provide assistance and guidance for establishing parks within their jurisdiction.
“One of our objectives is to ensure that we are able to provide continued opportunities for tourism product development across the country by lending the expertise of the DOT as well as its attached agencies towards efforts at educating and building capabilities of LGUs and private individuals that may be interested in partnering with us pursuant to our development of the product, of tourism product portfolios,” Frasco added.
The 1st Philippine Parks Congress, with the theme "Growing healthier, more livable cities through urban parks," gathered public and private sector stakeholders involved in developing urban parks and green spaces across the Philippines.
"This is to lay the foundation for creating a national framework for the development of Philippine urban parks," according to the tourism chief.
Meanwhile, National Parks Development Committee (NPDC) Executive Director Cecille Lorenzana Romero welcomed the DOT’s promotion of park development across the country.
“While there's still momentum and support for the development of more parks nationwide, now is also the time to push for legislation to create an authority for parks and open spaces that will be truly national in scope and can provide guidelines to our LGUs,” Romero said.
NPDC revealed that urban park visitors have already reached over 3 million from January to November 2022, an increase of over 50 percent compared to the over 1.5 million visitors in 2021, according to Romero.