BAIKINGON, Cagayan de Oro City barangay chairman Jao Gumapac is embarking on yet another ambitious project – creating a new water tourism in Cagayan de Oro City.
This time, Gumapac is proposing for Buncalan River to be a kayaking destination in the city.
Kayaking as a leisure activity is both invigorating and relaxing, offering a unique way to connect with nature and enjoy water-based recreation.
Gumapac is confident that the five-kilometer long Buncalalan river has the potential for kayaking.
Buncalalan river is a waterway that extends from Baikingon to Opol town in Misamis Oriental, exiting at the Macajalar Bay.
It’s a lesser known body of fresh water in Cagayan de Oro City from the more popular Cagayan river and Iponan river.
The river traverses Baikingon on the eastern bank and crosses to Igpit boundary while on the western side, it passes through barangay Malanang before exiting in at the bay.
Gumapac tesified before a City Council committee on tourism hearing December 3 that he has commissioned a joint study by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) of kayaking potential at the river.
He said the results came back positive.
With this development, Gumapac was able to convince the committee led by Councilor Joyleen Mercedes Balaba to recommend creating a technical working group to study further the viability of realizing the matter.
