BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN

Major trekking destinations at the Northern Negros Natural Park have been temporarily closed until further notice due to insurgency problem in the area.
Engr. Joan Nathaniel Gerangaya, NNNP Park Superintendent, in his issued special order number 3, series of 2021, dated September 16, said that the Eco-Tourism Site Destination (ETSD) of NNNP, including the Tinagong Dagat/Danao, Sulfutara, Pandong Bato will be temporarily off limits to visitors, citing the recent armed conflict near the area.
An encounter between suspected New Peoples’s Army rebels and Army soldiers ensued on Aug. 20 in Hacienda Raymunda, Brgy. Kapitan Ramon, Silay City, Negros Occidental, that claimed the lives of two communist rebels and an Army soldier.
Gerangaya, however, said that minor trekking destinations, including the Mayana Peak in Brgy. Prosperidad, San Carlos City, Malatan-og and Kawa waterfalls in Brgy. Kumaliskis, Don Salvador Benedicto, Malisbod, Dumalabdad and Pulang Tubig waterfalls in Brgy. Patag, Silay City, will still be allowed.
The order took effect Sept. 16 and shall remain enforced unless revoked, Gerangaya said.*