2 power plants off limits

ACCESS to Maria Cristina Falls (shown in aerial photo taken aboard a Philippine Air Force helicopter), one of the main tourist attractions in Iligan City, has been closed after the National Power Corp. temporarily banned the entry of visitors to its two hydropower plants that serve as passageway to the falls and another tourist destination in the city, Nature Park. RICHEL V. UMEL/INQUIRER MINDANAO

ILIGAN CITY—The state-owned National Power Corp. (Napocor) is suspending access by tourists to two of its power plants here for security reasons.

The plants, Agus 6 and Agus 7, host viewing platforms and serve as passageway to the city’s main tourist attractions—Maria Cristina Falls and Nature Park.

Napocor officials here said the suspension of tourist access to the plants was ordered by Dadelio Corpus, Napocor vice president for Mindanao generation, in a memorandum declaring red alert in all Napocor facilities and offices in Mindanao “to safeguard lives.”

Corpus’ order came in the wake of separate warnings by the military and the Philippine National Police about possible terror attacks in Northern Mindanao, which were issued after the Sept. 2 Davao City night market bombing that killed 15 and wounded 69 others.

Napocor officials said no visitors would be allowed inside Agus 6 and 7 as long as the memorandum order is in effect.

Iligan Rep. Frederick Siao said the suspension of tourist access to Agus 6 and 7 came at a bad time as the city prepares to celebrate the Diyandi Festival, a monthlong celebration dedicated to Michael the Archangel, the city’s patron saint.

“It’s a pity,” said Siao. He said the closure of the plants to tourists “will have so much effect on our tourism industry.”

In 2010, the city played host to about 115,000 visitors, mainly Filipinos. The annual average increase in tourist arrival figure in the city is about 11 percent.

Siao said Napocor should have just tightened security in the facilities “rather than closing them.”

City Councilor Sorilie Christine Bacsarpa, chair of the Diyandi Festival organizing committee, said city officials would “try to make arrangements” with Napocor “as to what we can do, especially for the tourists.”

Bacsarpa, however, said the city government could not do anything if Napocor stood its ground. “We have to follow it for the safety of everybody,” said the councilor. Richel Umel, Inquirer Mindanao