“We have taken over the operations of the tourist area in Barangay Sta. Juliana which is the common starting point for those trekking to the summit. Tourism should be under the control of the local government,” said Capas Mayor Antonio “TJ” Rodriguez in a recent forum with the Capampangans in Media, Inc. (CAMI) here.
The former mayor of Capas had initially awarded to a Korean firm the operation of tourism facilities at Sta. Juliana as well as control over the trek route to the volcano’s summit where a two-kilometer wide crater was formed during the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in 1991.
“Local folk now earn more from Mt. Pinatubo tourism by selling their products or acting as guides to tourists,” Rodriguez said.
He reiterated warnings that the crater-lake is not for swimming, as he noted that two years ago, the Department of Tourism had already issued such advisory.
“The lake is never to be treated like a resort playground for swimming, kayaking or aqua cycling,” the DOT advisory said.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said that the crater lake waters contained substances such as arsenic, aluminum, boron, chloride, iron, manganese, sulphate and total solids which could adversely affect the human health.
The DOT also warned tourists “never to stay close to the lakeshore as this poses a potential threat to one’s life due mainly to frequent occurrences of rock falls and landslides, especially during heavy downpour.”
