BAGUIO CITY – Mayor Benjamin Magalong said Tuesday that taking pictures at Lion’s Head on Kennon Road here is not banned.

But Magalong said that vehicles are prohibited from stopping in front of the iconic monument to take pictures. He said there is a designated parking area near the Lion’s Head where people can stop and take photos.

“It depends on the traffic flow, if there are really many vehicles going up and down, it is really forbidden to stop their vehicles in the middle of the road or on the side just to take pictures, because it is an obstruction to the flow of traffic,” Magalong said.

A tarpaulin placed in front of the Lion’s Head Tuesday has been removed following social media backlash.

Police have been deployed to guide motorists in line with Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla’s directive on March 31 to strictly implement zero-obstruction policies on Kennon Road and other major roads nationwide.

Magalong appealed to people to obey traffic regulations.

“We just need discipline from our motorists so that they don’t have to deal with traffic on the road, so I appeal to our tourists who will be passing through Kennon Road to avoid stopping right in front of the landmark so as not to obstruct the flow of traffic and to those who want to take pictures of the Lion’s Head, please use the parking area so as not to obstruct the traffic around it.”

Kennon Road that starts in Rosario, La Union is one of the three roads going to Summer Capital, the other two being Marcos Highway in Agoo, La Union and Naguilian Road in Bauang, La Union.

Kennon is the closest among the three at only 33 kilometers. Marcos is the longest at 48 kilometers and Naguilian is 40 kilometers. There is an alternate route and the least popular of the three – the Asin-Nangalisan-San Pascual Road or the Asin Road that starts in Tubao, La Union at 14 kilometers.