BAYAMBANG, Pangasinan — The municipal tourism office here has set its sight on turning the four-hectare Langiran Lake in Barangay Langiran here into a tourist spot to be called “Fishyalan”.
The development of the area is seen as a way to help the community’s indigent residents, said Rafael Saygo, senior municipal tourism operations officer, on Saturday.
Saygo said the lake, which caught the interest of Mayor Cesar Quiambao last year, has a lot of potentials because of the interesting folklores behind it, as well as its agricultural value.
He said Langiran residents, from generation to generation, have claimed that the lake conceals an underwater chapel and the cross on its steeple can sometimes be seen.
“We tried to verify this tale but the divers cannot really go deeper because it seems to have a quicksand underneath,” Saygo said in an interview.
Nonetheless, the lake is also abundant with fresh water that never runs out even during the El Niño weather phenomenon, even though it is not connected to any body of water nor is it near any body of water, as claimed by the residents, he added.
“For a long time, we thought it is just a creek or an excavated land that accumulated water, but BFAR (Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources) confirmed it is a lake,” Saygo said.
“When the mayor saw this lake and learned about its abundance of water, he took it into consideration. This is one of the proposed projects of the mayor to fight poverty as we are under revolution against poverty. The idea is to put up fish cages and develop the area,” he said.
Phase 1 of the site development began last year with a PHP1.2-million funding from the municipal government, Saygo said, adding that some 10 fish cages with more than 200,000 fingerlings of tilapia and other breeds of fresh water fish have been placed on the lake with the help of BFAR.
“We have also submitted a proposal to the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority and we are waiting for their approval,” Saygo said.
He said the idea is for the tourists to fish and the residents to cook or grill the catch, since “we are known as the Longest Barbecue Grill Guinness Record holder, and we also want to put up an event center, cottages and zipline.”
He added that they also coordinated with BFAR for additional fish cages.
“We target 12 or more fish cages, so we could harvest on a monthly basis. BFAR will also help us establish our own nursery, so we need not buy fingerlings or request from them. BFAR also trained some of the personnel from the municipal agriculture office who will handle the nursery,” Saygo said.
He said the presence of the lake has rekindled the town’s interest in the fishery industry. (Hilda Austria/PNA)
