I
have been visiting every now and then at Barangay Malagos in Calinan, Baguio
District, Davao City basically to steer guests and friends who wanted to
personally see the Philippine Eagle in the Philippine Eagle Center. All of
those trips obviously allowed me to overlook the Malagos Garden Resort located just
before the Philippine Eagle Center. Many other visitors in Malagos might have
the same experience with those of mine and hopefully this blog would be able to
open their eyes and would prompt them to visit this very wonderful place.
I
got the chance to be in Malagos Garden Resort when I facilitated a seminar last
November 12, 2012 as a requirement of my graduate school curriculum along with
my classmates Nhessryll and Mae Ann. I discovered then that Malagos Garden
Resort is more than just an ordinary resort. It actually compliments with the
Philippine Eagle Center as it has a traditionally-designed accommodation
facilities and other nature-themed structures.
Apart
from the cool ambiance brought about by the man-made forest in the area,
Malagos Garden Resort also houses several bird species. According to one of the
owners Doctor Bo Puentespina, they just allow their birds to fly around the
place to really let them experience their natural habitat. Unlike any other
resorts where birds are caged, Malagos Garden Resort serves as an innate aviary.
As
a park for all ages, the management of Malagos Garden Resort made sure they
have all the facilities necessary for an overnight stay and day tours. They
have a restaurant serving vegetable dishes freshly harvested from their farm.
They also have children’s playground, a soccer field, an outdoor pond dwelled
by lovely tamed fishes, a water ball park and several function halls for
trainings and seminars.
Mr.
Puentespina also revealed that aside from the ecotourism program, the resort is
also going into a more interesting field of agri-tourism where guests can be
treated for a tour in their huge agricultural farm.
“We
wanted to be known also for our agricultural productivity that’s why we are
into enhancing our farm here,” said Doctor Puentespina who, along with his
staff, personally oversees their cacao plantation and dairy goat farm. While
having a farm tour, I was amazed by how the farm was managed. They are
basically employing natural farming practice with minimal and/or zero chemical
usage.
We
were fortunate then that we were also taught the basics about dairy goat
production from kidding to milking right at their ventured Golden Sunset Farm. Their
breeds of milking goats produce an average of 2.5 to 3 liters per goat per day.
Currently,
the resort is accepting agricultural tours and at the same time catering to
seminars related to dairy goat production with Doctor Puentespina himself
taking care as training and education section in-charge.
