Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna welcomed the early guests at the reopening of the New Manila Zoo yesterday.
Lacuna told the “Balitaan sa Harbor View” news forum hosted by the Manila City Hall Reporters’ Association (MACHRA), that visitors from as far as Davao City, Bulacan and Baguio City were among the first guests who went to the newly-rehabilitated Manila Zoo when it reopened to the public yesterday.
She was accompanied in welcoming the first guests by Parks and Recreation Bureau chief Pio Morabe, the mayor’s spokesperson Atty. Princess Abante and the mayor’s executive assistant, Evelyn de Guzman, among others.
Lacuna shared that a senior citizen from Davao City has told her that he will be staying in Manila for only three days and that the Manila Zoo was his first destination and that a grandfather from Baguio City also went all the way to Manila to tour his grandson there.
She said that the tickets to the Manila Zoo were made available available through online registration beginning yesterday via the manilazoo.ph and it will be operating from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, with a cut-off for entry of guests at 6 p.m
Based on an ordinance passed by the Manila City Council headed by Vice Mayor Yul Servo as its Presiding Officer, the prices of admission are as follows: Adult and child – P150 for Manilans and P300 for non-Manilans; Students – P100 for Manilans and P200 for non- Manilans and city employes, P100. Senior citizens and persons with disability get 20 percent discount while children two years old and below may enter for free.
The fees, she said, are considerably lower than other zoos in the country that reach up to P600 per head, or double the amount being charged at the Manila Zoo.
“Napakababa na po nun kasi sa iba, P600, P500, eh baka kung napakababa ay ma-COA (Commission on Audit) naman kami.. ayon ‘yun sa batas,” Lacuna explained, adding that the city cannot charge in such a way that it would be disadvantageous to the government.
Lacuna said that once inside the zoo, no visitor will feel shortchanged because of the new attractions there. Yesterday, when she left, Lacuna said the number of registrants already reached 2,000. (JERRY S. TAN)
