Arroyo visits Sagada caves to promote site as tourist destinations

MANILA, Philippines - President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo took a short trek to the mystic caves of Sagada Monday morning in what Malacañang claimed to be a bid to promote the country's tourism industry. A Palace statement said President Arroyo was joined in her Sagada trek by First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, son Camarines Sur Rep. Diosdado Arroyo, daughter Lourdes Evangeline, and granddaughters Mikaela and Monique. Sagada, a town in Mountain Province, is six hours by bus from Baguio CIty. "This is very interesting," President Arroyo said as she and other members of the presidential party viewed the coffins hanging from the cliff of the Sagada mountain which was their first stop. Ray Fiarod, an official of the interior department in Sagada, said the caves serve as the final resting place of deceased Sagada folks after the Hanging Coffin ritual. Flarod said the deceased are put inside the coffins, which are brought to caves high in the cliffs where they "join" the coffins of their ancestors. He said the Hanging Coffin ritual involves forcing the body of the deceased into the tight spaces of the coffins. Bones are often broken in the process, he added. The Palace statement said the presidential party then proceeded to the Lumiang Burial Cave, where 80 to 100 coffins are kept. "That burial site is a private one. They belong to one clan and only those belonging to that clan are allowed to be buried there," Fjarod told the party. After viewing the burial place, the First Family and their guests trekked down the 500-meter trail to the cave. For his part, Tourism regional director Purificacion Molintas said Sagada boasts of other scenic natural attractions that local and foreign tourists alike would love to see. Molintas said there has been an increase of tourist arrivals in the province since the completion of Phase One of the Halsema Highway rehabilitation project stretching from Baguio City to Mount Data, Bauko in Mountain province. Molintas expressed optimism that local tourism would be further boosted with the completion of Phases Two and Three of the Halsema Highway rehab program and the improvement of the Bontoc-Tabuk-Tuguegarao road section. - GMANews.TV