Officials from Basilan Province, led by Governor Mujiv Hataman and Isabela City Mayor Sitti Djalia Turabin-Hataman, expressed their gratitude to the Department of Tourism (DOT) for implementing programs that spotlight emerging destinations and uplift the lives of local stakeholders.
Speaking at the signing of the memorandum of agreement for the Lampinigan S.A.N.D.S. (Sustainable and Natural Destination of the South) project recently at Fuego Fuego Beach, Turabin-Hataman personally thanked Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco for her unparalleled inclusivity and grassroots approach to tourism development.
“We are deeply grateful to the Department of Tourism for its steadfast support through the TCC program. Because of this grant, we will soon see the rise of Lampinigan S.A.N.D.S.: The Jetty Port and Leisure Development Project, an infrastructure that embodies both progress and purpose,” the lady mayor said.
“May our collaboration continue to build bridges across islands, strengthen communities, and celebrate the enduring beauty of our people and our land and our seas.”
“Your confidence in Isabela City strengthens our resolve to prove that Basilan is not just a destination but a story of resilience, of renewal, of hope, of possibilities. May our collaboration continue to build bridges across islands, strengthen communities, and celebrate the enduring beauty of our people and our land and our seas,” she added.
A winning entry in the Tourism Champions Challenge of the DOT and its infrastructure arm, the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA), the Lampinigan S.A.N.D.S. project will see the construction of visitor amenities and services that are set to boost tourism activities on the island while opening livelihood opportunities for local residents.
“I am pleased to know that tourism has played a central role in the upliftment of the communities here in Isabela.”
“I am pleased to know that tourism has played a central role in the upliftment of the communities here in Isabela, having reduced the poverty incidence, further evincing the power of tourism to be an engine of progress and engine of development,” Frasco said during the MOA signing event.
“[With TCC], you will soon have world-class facilities that will provide livelihood to your communities as well as an opportunity for tourists, both abroad and domestic, to get to know the heart and soul of Isabela,” the tourism chief added.
Backed by a ₱25-million project fund, Lampinigan SANDS, once completed, will soon feature a jetty port for improved access, a 200-meter trail, campsite, reception pavilion, viewing deck, and visitor facilities such as cottages, restrooms, showers, dressing rooms, huts, a restaurant, and an outdoor kitchen.
Roughly a 40-minute boat ride from mainland Isabela City, Lampinigan offers an idyllic escape with its white sand, clear blue waters, and striking rock formations.
The Lampinigan S.A.N.D.S. initiative is the eighth TCC project to break ground, underscoring the DOT’s sustained support to LGUs in realizing their tourism vision.
