ISULAN, Sultan Kudarat (PIA) --  Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco refers to Sultan Kudarat Province  as "having great potential for tourism development" during her visit here last week. 

Secretary Frasco, along with Usec. Shalimar Hofer Tamano and Usec. Verna Buensuceso, Tourism Promotions Board COO Margarita Nograles, and other DOT officials, visited Isulan Friday, May 19, for the first-ever regional launching of the Department's incentive intiative, the Bisita, Be My Guest (BBMG) Program. 

"We have come here today in full force with the Department of Tourism officials as well as our regional office if only to emphasize the importance with which we view Sultan Kudarat as having great potential for tourism development," Secretary Frasco said during the BBMG Program kick off. 

"This is a manifestation of our commitment to you and to the people of Sultan Kudarat." 

Sec. Frasco, speaking before local government officials and tourism officers in the region, underscored that President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.'s administration has recognized "the power that tourism holds as far as its ability to change the lives of our fellow Filipinos." 

"No other industry is able to give such great opportunity for economic advancement in the farthest places in the country other than tourism," she said.  

Under the Marcos administration, DOT is embarking on aggressive program to give attention not only to key tourism destinations in the country but also the emerging and less known destinations, including Sultan Kudarat Province, she added.

"It's time for Sultan Kudarat. It's your time to develop tourism in your province," she said. 

Meanwhile, 1st District Congresswoman Princess Bai Rihan Mangudadatu-Sakaluran stated that although the province's tourism sector is still underdeveloped, Sultan Kudarat has a lot to offer, with promising tourism spots from the seas to the mountains. 

"This is the time to show to the entire Philippines and the world what the Province of Sultan Kudarat has," Rep. Mangudadatu-Sakaluran said, referring to the province's tourism prospects. 

"Here in the Province of Sultan Kudarat we take pride of KKK -- Kapatagan, Kabundukan, at Karagatan.  In all of these you will find potential tourist destinations," she said.

Popular tourism spots in the province include: the Baras Bird Sanctuary in Tacurong City; the Grand La Palmera Mountain Ridges, Fekung Bula (Falls), Fetam Klego Underground River, and Pangadilan Rock Formation Falls in Columbio; Margues Hot and Cold Spring, Panigan Falls, and Ugis Peak in Esperanza; Bansada Agri-Eco Adventure Park in Bagumbayan; Medol Island, Balasan Reef/Vanishing Island, and Twin Islands in Palimbang; Balot Island, Tayandak White Sand Beaches, and Tubo-tubo Island in Kalamansig; and Katunggan Coastal Eco-Park and Tres Andanas Falls in Lebak, among many others.

The province is also known as the top coffee producer in the country, which is why efforts are being made to formally name it the "Coffee Capital of the Philippines." (PIA SOCCSKSARGEN)