Malabon Zoo, Enchanted Kingdom Reopen

After months of closure due to restrictions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, more amusement and leisure parks – including the Malabon Zoo and Enchanted Kingdom – have finally reopened.

Malabon Zoo, Aquarium and Botanical Garden founder Manny Tangco confirmed in a text message to The Philippine STAR that it will have its soft opening on Sunday, Nov. 7.

“Welcome back to nature!” Tangco said, noting that wild animals like grizzly bear Justin Bei-Bear, orangutan Marimar and albino Burmese python Cheesecake are “excited to welcome back their human friends!”

His announcement came after the de-escalation of the alert level in Metro Manila to Level 2 last Friday. The Alert Level 2 in the National Capital Region remains in effect until Nov.21.

The zoo has been closed to the public for almost 18 months due to the pandemic.

“Now that we’re under Alert Level 2, many are approaching us asking if they can visit,” Tangco said in Filipino.

But he stressed the zoo would be “very conservative” in welcoming visitors and that health and safety protocols like wearing of face masks and physical distancing would still be strictly enforced.

“We have to test the waters, we want to see how things go,” Tangco said.

He promised to strictly follow government health and safety regulations as he also wants to protect the wild animals, which he considers his “children.”

He said the zoo’s usual visitors and patrons before the pandemic – schoolchildren on field trips – appeared to be touched and enlightened by his lectures on conservation.

In the past months that the zoo was closed to the public, Tangco revealed he learned lessons of humility and understanding of the plight of the needy.

He has also become prayerful and appreciative of the kindness of people.

The Luzon-wide hard lockdown in March 2020 forced the shutdown of many establishments, leaving thousands jobless.

Tangco, a former bank executive, had repeatedly appealed for cash donations so he could maintain zoo facilities and feed the animals. He recalled he also had to spend his own savings and borrow money from his relatives to fund the zoo’s upkeep.

The zoo, located in Barangay Potrero, has been around for 32 years. The animals in the zoo are named after celebrities, politicians and presidents.

Under Alert Level 2, establishments are allowed to reopen at 50% capacity indoor and 70% outdoor.

Enchanted Kingdom, too

Meanwhile, the Enchanted Kingdom in Sta. Rosa in Laguna reopened on Saturday, Nov. 6, after months of on-and-off operations.

After closing for the first time in March 2020, it reopened in October last year only to shut down again in March due to the outbreak of the Delta variant of COVID-19. It reopened for just a week in June.

In an interview with The STAR, Enchanted Kingdom president Mario Mamon said the term “affected by the pandemic” is an understatement, to describe what they had gone through in the past two years.

“Like all businesses that rely on crowds and on people to make [the business] work, we are greatly affected. In fact, it was a very difficult sacrifice for us and for our people,” Mamon said.

“When the pandemic struck, we were already in operation for 25 years. After two years of the pandemic, we are really starting again, back to square one. Meaning, everything that we built and saved was used up,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.

He, however, voiced optimism that his business would gradually recover, especially with the vaccination efforts and the lower number of COVID-19 cases in nearby areas.

“Now, the cases are declining because of the vaccination efforts and of course, because businesses need to resume. Some people would want to go out of their homes after months of isolation and we could see this, although some of our visitors now are teenagers,” he said.

He also voiced hoped that the alert level in Laguna would decline to Alert Level 2, which would allow children outside.

“All the staff dealing directly with guests are fully vaccinated. But, I must admit that we are not yet all fully vaccinated. Most of our staff would be receiving their second dose in the coming weeks and hopefully, by the end of the month, we will be 100% inoculated,” he said.

He also revealed that some park attractions are still not open to the public, especially to children.

A new attraction called Twin Spin was made available to the public on Saturday, although its official launch is on Nov.20.

According to Suzette Gillera, Enchanted Kingdom’s guest relations department head, only 60% of its 18,000 capacity would be allowed to enter the park at a time.

The original number is 50%, but since the park has a safety seal, an additional 10% has been allowed.

The park is open from 11 a.m. to 7 a.m. Up to Dec. 12, the park would only be open on weekends. It will be open daily from Dec. 13 to Jan. 3, according to its website.