Maria Cristina Falls reopens to public

MAJESTIC Maria Cristina Falls, a key attraction in Iligan City, is now open to the public after it was closed in March 2022, when rockslides blocked its road. However, entry per day is limited to up to 10 people. —RICHEL UMEL

ILIGAN CITY—After having been closed to the public in the last three years, Maria Cristina Falls welcomes visitors for the first time this week in time for Iligan City’s Diyandi Festival.

The National Power Corp. (Napocor) and the City Tourism Office have set safety protocols for tourists who want to view the grandeur of the iconic falls within the Agus 6 and Agus 7 hydroelectric power plant complex at Sitio Fuentes, Barangay Maria Cristina, said lawyer Edgar Ramirez, plant manager of the Agus 6 and Agus 7 hydroelectric power plants.

Agus 6 and 7 are part of the six cascading power plants operated by Napocor, starting from Lake Lanao in Marawi City down to Maria Cristina Falls. These hydroelectric plants along the Agus River provide most of the power required in Mindanao.

“The threat of debris fall is still there but the management has established safety protocols to prevent accidents while we accommodate the visitors,” he said during a forum at the Macapagal Ancestral House in Sitio Timoga on Aug. 15.

Public viewing of Maria Cristina Falls has been stopped since March 6, 2022, when a series of landslides brought forth huge boulders and debris that blocked its access road, prompting local authorities to close it to the public because of risks to safety.

Ramirez said the 55th Combat Engineer Regiment of the Philippine Army, with its heavy equipment, and personnel of the City Engineers’ Office and the Mabuhay Vinyl Corp. had cleared the access road of the boulders and debris.

But he said only a limited number of visitors would be allowed to enter the area per day. The site opens from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. from Monday to Friday, except on holidays and subject to weather conditions the day before or on the actual day of the visit. Only 10 persons would be allowed each day.

No walk-ins

Those who want to visit will be required to write a letter request to the City Tourism Office, complete with the names of visitors, the driver and security, each of whom would have to sign a waiver.

Ramirez said they would not allow walk-in viewers and that visitors would have to bring their own vehicle.

Acting City Tourism Officer Hanna Padilla said some of the letter requests had already been submitted to the Napocor Mindanao Generation office on Aug. 18, still subject to evaluation and approval.

Maria Cristina Falls has been one of the tourist attractions in the city, which celebrates its Diyandi Festival from Aug. 29 to Oct. 10 this year, with its fiesta in honor of patron St. Michael the Archangel on Sept. 29.