DAPITAN CITY, Philippines – The attractions of this complex and the millions of pesos it cost to install them truly make it world-class.

With its brand-new imported rides – giant roller coaster, mini-train, choco cup ride, midi flume, carousel, Apollo, bumper cars, horror house, and swinge – Gloria’s Fantasyland is Mindanao’s first world-class theme park. It was built at a cost of P1.2 billion.

The brains behind the facility, which draws mainly children, is convicted child-rapist former Zamboanga del Norte Representative Romeo Jalosjos.

His closeness to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo might lead one to believe he named the park after her, but Jalosjos insists it is not so.

For the locals, ‘gloria’ simply means happiness.

The theme park, located near the Gloria de Dapitan Entertainment Complex, opened on October 31, about seven months after Jalosjos’ release from jail.

“Gloria’s Fantasyland is a fulfillment of my promise to make the less privileged experience such amenities as it is improbable for them to travel abroad,” Jalosjos said of the theme park he calls the Disneyland of the Philippines.

The former legislator, also known for being behind the posh Dakak Resort, said he expected many visitors to the Fantasyland.

Which is why, he said, the construction of a P1-billion, 12-story hotel is underway to house guests and visitors from outside Dapitan and Zamboanga del Norte.

Aside from the hotel, Jalosjos said, two modern theaters would be rising on the same complex.

“It is sad that even Dipolog City, to which Dapitan once belonged, has no theater to speak of,” he lamented.

Jalosjos said his huge projects here were being backed by bank loans, which also funded the development of Dampa sa Dapitan Marine Park a few kilometers away from Dakak in Dapitan.

Dampa sa Dapitan opened just recently and lies on a two-hectare property and is just a 30-minute ride from Dipolog City, he said.

Emelio Libando, a Dapitan City tourism officer, said Dampa sa Dapitan offers river cruising and fishing activities. Visitors can order food and eat it on boats while cruising the 25-kilometer-long river for an hour and 10 minutes, he said.

Jalosjos boasted that Dipolog and Dapitan were the only places in Mindanao free from terror threats today.

This is the reason, he said, why visiting the cities would make everyone safe and comfortable.