I am personally making this appeal to my friends who intend to visit Sagada- please do not. Not that I am not proud of where I came from but the recent realizations when I recently went home pushed me to clamor for your support. If you are expecting to find a quaint town where life is quiet and simple, you are up for a disappointment. Traffic, noise and the crowd tarnished the image of the town.
I cannot think of any better feasible action than to ask support from my well traveled friends whose words of recommendation are credible. I am hoping that the desire to see Sagada will not prevail over the desire to preserve the environment. If you are aware of the concept of carrying capacity, then I hope you will agree with me. At present, figures show how the in-traffic far exceeds the number of people that can be conveniently accommodated by the town. I am gripped by fear having seen what tourism did to once quiet towns turned tourist havens. What you will currently see is not Sagada- at least not my version of home.
You may say that you are as environmental as I am and that you are very much aware of the ways to preserve the environment. I know that you all are- but waste generation is directly proportional to the number of people (whether we like it or not). You might have pocketed your candy wrappers and have used the water sparingly but what about the waste generated by the restaurants that prepared your food? What about those resources used to accommodate you? How about the human wastes generated in the absence of proper sewage treatment?
I hope you find it in your hearts to heed me. Please do not come to Sagada and tell others to do that too. Please come when things are better- when the government has devised a way of regulating tourism and solving all those perpetual problems that come with it. While waiting for that, please let my stories be your virtual tour to the town.
Thank you!
I cannot think of any better feasible action than to ask support from my well traveled friends whose words of recommendation are credible. I am hoping that the desire to see Sagada will not prevail over the desire to preserve the environment. If you are aware of the concept of carrying capacity, then I hope you will agree with me. At present, figures show how the in-traffic far exceeds the number of people that can be conveniently accommodated by the town. I am gripped by fear having seen what tourism did to once quiet towns turned tourist havens. What you will currently see is not Sagada- at least not my version of home.
You may say that you are as environmental as I am and that you are very much aware of the ways to preserve the environment. I know that you all are- but waste generation is directly proportional to the number of people (whether we like it or not). You might have pocketed your candy wrappers and have used the water sparingly but what about the waste generated by the restaurants that prepared your food? What about those resources used to accommodate you? How about the human wastes generated in the absence of proper sewage treatment?
I hope you find it in your hearts to heed me. Please do not come to Sagada and tell others to do that too. Please come when things are better- when the government has devised a way of regulating tourism and solving all those perpetual problems that come with it. While waiting for that, please let my stories be your virtual tour to the town.
Thank you!
hala ka..... to reiterate.... please go when the government AND LOCALS has devised a way to cope with the problems generated by congestion...
TumugonBurahinThank you so much for pointing that out. I have indeed defined my use of the word government there using the democratic way "a government of all the people, by all the people, and for all the people".
TumugonBurahin