THE city of Baybay in Leyte may not be your usual destination for recreation and sight-seeing at first impression. But a closer look at this so-called City of Beauty, Serenity and Discovery will reveal that it is emerging as Eastern Visayas’s hub for faith, farm and ecotourism, which the Department of Tourism (DOT) is developing because of their growing markets.
Declared a component city of Leyte in June 2007, it has been quietly attracting visitors because of the unique convergence of these three tourism sectors.
Faith tourism
Baybay is the home to the Diocesan Shrine of San Antonio de Padua, which draws hordes of pilgrims to venerate the century-old image of the saint which is believed to be miraculous.
Located in the coastal barangay of Pomponan, Catholic faithful from all over the country pay tribute to the saint every 13th day of the month, in an act of devotion which starts the day before. A traditional religious dance called sirong is performed during the saint’s patronal feast on June 13, which falls two days before Baybay’s cityhood day.
The church, which receives over 300,000 devotees a year, constantly ranks as the top cultural attraction in Region 8. This number is part of the more than 647,045 day visitors who swing by annually in Baybay, the highest in the region based on data from DOT 8.
Another religious spot is the Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, a classic example of a baroque structure started in 1852 by Spanish friar Vicente Cronado and continued by Maestro Proceso.
Gutted by fire in 1866, except for the Holy Cross Chapel, the church was completed in 1870 as renowed sculptor and painter Capitan Mateo Espinoso applied the finishing touches to lend magnificence to the house of worship.
The church is in the heart of the “heritage lane” because of the well-preserved Spanish and American-era ancestral houses, which will transport visitors back in time as they visit these living museums.
The parish celebrates its patronal feast on December 27 and the city government incepted the Binaybayon Festival on the said date to showcase the city’s rich cultural heritage.
Farm tourism
Baybay has been showcasing its agriculture potentials, long before Republic Act 10816 (Farm Tourism Development Act 2016) was signed into law, thanks to the Visayas State University (VSU), an institution of higher learning which has been in the forefront of agricultural education and research and development. Formerly the Visayas State College of Agriculture (Visca), this sprawling school has been quietly sowing the seeds of farm tourism for decades in this part of the archipelago with its vast gardens, demo farms and fertile plots.
Sandwiched by the undulating Pangasugan mountain ranges and the Camotes Sea, this 1,479-hectare resort university houses the National Abaca Research Center, National Coconut Research Center-Visayas and the Philippine Root Crops Research and Training Center, and regional centers of agencies on agriculture and environment sciences.
This expansive campus is conducive learning for its back-to-nature atmosphere and greeneries, which will bring out the proverbial green thumb in every student or visitor.
Baybay also boasts of its 13,820-hectare coconut plantation, the biggest in Eastern Visayas, luring big agro-industries, SC Global Coco Products Inc. and SC Global Food Products Inc. the world’s largest producer of organic coconut oil.
The city is also host to Ching Bee Trading Corp. (CBT), the world’s biggest traders of abaca fiber, and Specialty Pulp Manufacturing Inc. (SPMI), Asia’s biggest abaca pulp mill.
These factories form the core of a specialized industrial tourism circuit for bench marking of best practices and technologies.
Ecotourism
The city has the longest coastline in Leyte, where it coined its name which literally means “beach.” And it goes without saying that among its top tourist drawers is its cozy coasts, dissected by rivers and streams emanating from the Pangasugan ranges, which has remarkable flora and fauna.
Lintaon Peak, the wind-swept highest point, offers a commanding view of the Camotes sea and islands across the channel. As part of 10th cityhood day last year, Baybay opened the 16,000 Blossoms Park adorned by 16,000 LED lights, which brighten the mountain at night. The park is comprised of white and red roses embedded in the grassy meadow forming the phrase “I Love Baybay.”
The park will be developed into the Lintaon Ecotourism Zone, complete with an information center, view deck, pavilion, picnic areas and tourist facilities.
A tall statue of the Immaculate Conception is also being planned to make it a pilgrimage site to supplement the San Antonio de Padua Shrine.
Adventurers can explore the nearby Lintaon Cave, scale MountPangasugan which became the refuge of Filipino World War 2 guerillas, or dip at the icy rejuvenating waters of Bakwitan River and Falls.
All these are for a consummate experience and convergence of faith, farm and ecotourism.