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AGENCIES
MANILA
PAG-ASA ISLAND, the second largest island in the Kalayaan Island Group (Spratlys) in the West Philippine Sea, is being eyed to be a tourist destination.
This is the intention of Senate Bill 944 filed by Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara yesterday, seeking Congress to declare Pag-asa Island as a special ecological tourism zone.
"With its impeccable beauty, the island is an ideal tourist destination,'' Angara said in filing Senate Bill 944.
Angara, chairman of the Senate ways and means committee, said the government should provide the necessary support to promote the island's rich biodiversity and Philippine heritage that the country should be proud of.
The bill seeks to create and mandate the Pag-asa Island Ecotourism Cluster Governing Board, in coordination with the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA), to prepare an ecotourism master plan to ensure the island's tourism promotion, employment generation, livelihood development, and the protection and preservation of its environment and ecosystem.
The Pag-asa Island and the adjoining islands of Parola, Kota and Panata, are collectively referred to as the Pag-asa Island Cluster, which is located in the municipality of Kalayaan in the province of Palawan. It is the only Philippine-occupied island in the Spratlys that is inhabited by civilians, Angara explained.
