By Ercel Maandig/PNA
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — The provincial government of Misamis Oriental on Saturday led the commemoration of Cebu Pacific Flight 387 that crashed 21 years ago.
The tragedy killed 104 people in the mountain ranges of Sumagaya and Lumot in the town of Claveria.
A year after the plane crash, former senator Sonny Jaworski led an effort to put up a 20-foot memorial shrine at the crash site that has since become the center of the annual commemoration.
As part of this year’s commemoration, some 500 mountaineers initiated a cleanup drive within the Mount Lumot and Sumagaya vicinity starting January 31.
Provincial Tourism Officer Jeffrey Saclot said that several years after the crash, mountaineering societies all over Mindanao started the annual mountain climbing and trekking activities at the crash sites.
Saclot said that for years, the shrine was neglected largely because of the boundary dispute between Claveria and the city of Gingoog.
This compelled the provincial government, he said, to intervene and rehabilitate the shrine four years ago by allocating PHP10 million.
“This year, it will be implemented because they’ve seen the tourist potential of the area because of its greenery, the entry point of two mountain ranges for trekking and climbing, and the historical value of the site,” Saclot said.
Governor Yevgeny Emano said that the shrine’s rehabilitation has a total budget of PHP35 million, with PHP10 million ready for release within the year.
