War-torn Kauswagan town opens P26-M amusement park

KAUSWAGAN, Lanao del Norte (MindaNews / 17 October) – The P26 million amusement park established by the local government unit (LGU) here, where deposed President Joseph Estrada launched the all-out war against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in 2000, is now running.

Mayor Rommel Arnado led the opening of the amusement park located at the boardwalk in Barangay Poblacion here last Saturday afternoon.

“This is the first amusement park in Northern Mindanao established by a local government unit. This will help boost Kauswagan’s tourism potentials,” he said.

According to him, the amusement park is one of the tangible signs that the war-torn town has been rising from the ashes of the Moro armed conflict.

He said they are expecting local tourists in Lanao del Norte and the neighboring provinces to visit the amusement park, which was fully constructed using local government funds.

It has five major rides such as the Ferris wheel, picaroon, air bicycle, carousel and train.

Arnado said the LGU will be adding more rides in the coming years.

The mayor said that the rides have been tested for their safety for a month before the LGU opened the amusement park to the public.

The amusement park operates from 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. during weekdays and from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. during weekends.

All rides are P50 per person except for the air bicycle, which cost P300. An environmental fee of P10 is charged per visitor.

Abdullah Macapaar, Member of Parliament of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority who is popularly known as the MILF’s Commander Bravo, was elated with the opening of the amusement park in Kauswagan town, as the facility “shows progress.”

He urged the residents to help keep the peace and order condition and to support the LGU to turn the town into a tourist destination.

Augusto Colao, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) director for Lanao del Norte,  lauded the Kauswagan LGU for opening the amusement park.

“This is the prize of local good governance. It can be a good role model for other local government units to replicate,” he said.

Kauswagan was a recipient of the 2014 Galing Pook Award, a pioneering program that recognizes innovation and excellence in local governance. The award started in October 21, 1993 under the joint initiative of the Local Government Academy-DILG, the Ford Foundation, and other individual advocates of good governance from the academe, civil society and the government.

The town received the award because of its program dubbed “From Arms to Farms: Walking Through the Paths of Peace.”

Aside from being the town where Estrada launched the 2000 all-out-war, then MILF rebels led by Commander Bravo also attacked Kauswagan in 2008 following the botched signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain, which the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional.

 In 2014, the government and the MILF signed the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro after 17 years of peace negotiations. (Marivic Omandam Davis / MindaNews)