GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews / 13 April) – Officials in Tboli, South Cotabato urged tourists to refrain from visiting the mystical Lake Holon after it was temporarily closed due to security issues.
Tboli Mayor Keo Dayle Tuan placed the popular trekking destination off limits to the public due to a gun battle between the military and alleged members of the New People’s Army (NPA) last April 9 in the town’s Sitio Tbul, Barangay Laconon.
“To ensure the safety and security of its constituents, particularly tourists and visitors coming to the municipality for leisure, there is a need to temporarily close Lake Holon and postpone all other tourism activities in the area,” Tuan stated in Executive order 27 signed on April 10, Friday.
The temporary closure of Lake Holon, dubbed the “Crown Jewel of the South,” to the public was recommended by the Tboli Municipal Police Station, the mayor said.
Argie Amad, Tboli tourism officer, told MindaNews on Monday that the local government has not yet lifted the closure order.
“Nobody is allowed entry to Lake Holon until the mayor issues an order reopening it to the public,” he said on the phone.
Last April 9, two alleged communist rebels were killed during an encounter with soldiers under the 603rd Infantry Brigade (603IB) in Barangay Laconon.
Brig. Gen. Michael Santos, 603IB commander, identified the fatalities as Anthony Narvasa, alias “Magaw,” secretary of the NPA’s Far South Mindanao Region, and Roda Kian, alias Mutya and Roxanne.
Narvasa is wanted for murder, multiple attempted homicide and attempted murder, Santos added.
During clearing operations, soldiers recovered four M-16 rifles and one R4 rifle, the military official reported.
Hours later around 11 p.m. on the same day, soldiers manning a checkpoint in the población, who were on alert due to the firefight earlier that day, fired at a Utility Task Vehicle (UTV) after it did not stop.
Three workers of the local government unit aboard the UTV were wounded.
In a statement issued Friday, the 6th Infantry Division (6ID), which has supervision over the 603IB, confirmed the shooting, saying there was “miscommunication” in the incident.
In connection with the earlier encounter that same day, the 6ID, in coordination with the LGU T’boli, facilitated the evacuation and surrender of a wounded CTG (communist terrorist group) member, the statement read.
However, during transit at a military checkpoint under heightened alert status, a breakdown in communication unfortunately occurred. This resulted in the unintended wounding of LGU employees and the escape of the CTG member, it added.
Lake Holon (previously named Lake Maughan) is nestled on Mt. Melibengoy, also known as Mt. Parker.
The mountain and the lake were named after Frank Parker and Russell Maughan, both US military officers who died when their plane crashed while they were mapping the area in the 1930s.
Long before it became a tourism attraction, Holon, which means deep water in T’boli, is considered a sacred place by the tribe, though it had been associated with death and destruction.
On Sept. 6, 1995, Lake Holon’s crater wall collapsed, allegedly due to treasure hunting activities, sending an estimated 30 million cubic meters of water crashing downstream for 130 kilometers. At least 53 people were killed and P278 million worth of infrastructure and farm crops were damaged.
In 2003 and 2004, the national government recognized Holon, which is part of the Allah Valley Protected Landscape, as the cleanest inland body of water in the country.
From 2016 to 2017, the lake was also recognized among the world’s “Top 100 Sustainable Destinations,” an initiative by the global Green Destinations. (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)
0 Comments