The Negros Occidental provincial government is buying more adjacent land to expand its Mambukal Resort and Wildlife Sanctuary in Murcia town to ensure environmental sustainability and to provide more amenities for guests, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said on Friday, Sept. 5.
The resort has undergone numerous improvements that include the opening of a new food court where four concessionaires serve an array of food, and golf carts to ferry guests around the property for free, he said.
More trails are also being built where animals endemic to Negros will be among the attractions, Lacson said.
Additional villas are also in the pipeline, he added.
The resort also has natural hot springs and its pools with sulfur-rich water are believed to have therapeutic properties.
Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said the resort was originally 24 hectares, but the provincial government bought 10 more hectares. Additional property surrounding the resort for purchase will bring the resort property up to 50 hectares, Diaz said.
The purchase of the additional properties is necessary to preserve the ecological balance at the resort for future generations, he said.
The provincial government is also eyeing hydropower for the electricity needs of the resort, Diaz said.
The improvement of the resort trails will be funded with P10 million awarded by the national government to the provincial government under its Green Green Project, he said.
One trail will lead to the resort’s six falls and the other one will be from Camp Nolan to the newly acquired two-hectare property above the resort with a view of Murcia and Bacolod, Diaz said, adding that additional accommodations will be built there.
Endangered Visayan warty pigs and spotted deers from Talarak Foundation will be placed in enclosures along the trail while they are being acclimatized for release into the wild in the Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park, Diaz said.
A new high-end villa with a nearby pool is also nearing completion, Diaz said.
The resort now has four electric golf carts to transport guests around the resort for free, with two more arriving, he added.
Guests can also kayak in the resort’s lagoon.
Since the new food court opened and the golf carts were introduced, the resort’s guests have increased, reaching from 1,000 to 2,000 on weekends, Shiela Fuentes, resort manager, said.
Edna Lobaton, Dodjie Ayala, Hennie Ramos and Joey Colado (l-r)*
Among the concessionaires at the food court are Edna Lobaton of El Grill who said their specialties are chicken inasal, sinuglaw, grilled belly, seafoods and halo-halo, while Dodjie Ayala of Ikea Seafood Restaurant said they serve native chicken, kinilaw, sizzling squid and mixed seafoods.
Joey Colado of Amigos Mambukal said they serve seafood specialties, while Hennie Ramos of Mahens, formerly Ramos Grill, said they serve sizzling blue marlin with mango toppings and white sauce, pork belly, KBL (kadyos, baboy, lanka) and other dishes from old family recipes.
Eufemia and Hennie Ramos*
Ramos is a second generation Mambukal food provider. Her mother Eufemia Ramos, 76, started working at Mambukal in 1967 and became resort manager. She later also had her own eatery at the resort called Ramos Grill.
She is happy that the food court has been improved by the governor because it is much nicer now, Eufemia said.*