Bite the bullet

In an open letter to President Duterte, various stakeholders of Boracay are asking that instead of a total closure of the island, mitigating measures must be implemented within a short and specific time frame which would instead result in a slowdown of business rather than a complete shutdown which would have a devastating impact on 19,000 direct workers and thousands more who are indirectly dependent on Boracay’s tourism industry.

An inter-agency task force composed of the heads of the environment, tourism, and interior and local government departments earlier recommended to the President that Boracay be closed to tourism for a maximum of one year.

The joint recommendation was announced during a meeting on Thursday attended by Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Roy Cimatu, Tourism Secretary Wanda Tulfo-Teo and Interior and Local Government officer-in-charge Eduardo Año.

The closure is to take effect one month after the President declares a state of calamity covering Boracay Island.

During the one-year closure, the following measures will be implemented: upgrading of the sewerage system including the sewer lines; installation of all required solid waste management facilities and mechanisms in addition to full compliance with the provisions of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act; removal of illegal structures in forestlands and wetlands, easement areas and even geologically hazardous areas such as those with sink holes; road widening/ construction, pipe laying and excavations; and rationalization of transport system.

The closure is brought about by the fact that not only have the resorts and other establishments violated the 25 meters plus five meters easement measured from the high tide mark. Some of them have built structures on top of wetlands and forest lands, while many are discharging untreated wastewater that finds its way to the sea. The levels of fecal coliform in the beach have reached alarming levels, while about 80 percent of the garbage generated cannot be hauled out of the island.

But one does not need to have all these scientific studies and technical analyses to know that the local government and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has done nothing in the past to prevent all these from happening. One visit to the beach and one can see that many of the establishments have left only probably five to 10 meters open.

Way back in the early ‘90s, we would go to Boracay and just lie down on the sand, with just the sound of the wind and the waves and occasional chatter and laughter from a few residents who would offer to do the massage right there or to sell freshly caught lobster.

Try lying down on the sand now, and more likely than not, you would be stepped on by throngs of tourists whose only access from one establishment to another is the few meters of beach left by establishments. You could hardly hear the howling of the wind and the splashing of the waves, whose sounds are drowned by tourists as well as  people selling all sorts of stuff and offering all kinds of services. The words rest and relaxation no longer seem consistent with Stations 1 and 2 of Boracay. Try walking leisurely towards the direction of D’Mall to realize that this has become an impossible feat. It is more of trying to navigate an obstacle course to get from one point to another in Boracay.

The best scenario when one visits Boracay is to stay in one of the high-end resorts like Shangri-La Boracay or Fairways and Bluewaters, which have exclusive beaches and clear waters. But be prepared to pay Shangri-La’s P22,000 per night price tag for a deluxe room which is the lowest I can find in Agoda.com.

These establishments and the local government of Malay, as well as the provincial government of Aklan, probably thought that they were having it so good so why rock the boat? Who would ever think that there would come a time when the Filipino people would elect a president who would not be swayed by emotions and would do whatever is best, even if it is not the most popular option?

But there is no harm in trying. And so they are appealing to the President to allow them until September of this year to complete various mitigating and rehabilitation measures to solve Boracay’s problems.

The open letter, signed by various stakeholders, including the different LGUs, the local chamber of commerce and industry, travel and tour operators, various NGOs and cooperatives, among others, are asking that they be given up to June 30 this year to demolish illegal structures within the easement, up to July to improve the sewerage and drainage system, up to May to solve the garbage problem, up to April 30 to remove temporary stalls of vendors along the beach and main roads, up to September to phase out motorized tricycles and replace them with e-trikes, and an undetermined period of time to demolish illegal structures on forest and wet lands.

Sounds good, except that these will be difficult to implement especially during the peak season when the throngs of tourists arrivals could hamper said activities.

The Philippines would not be the first to close down a popular tourist destination. In 2016, Thailand officials banned tourist activities on four popular islands which were popular destinations for day trips from neighboring Phuket to prevent further damage to nearby coral reefs. The measures were adopted to allow the environment to rehabilitate without being disturbed by tourism activities before the damage becomes irreparable.

Boracay’s situation should serve as a lesson to the local governments and the tourism industry of El Nido and Coron in Palawan, Siargao in Surigao, Puerto Galera in Mindoro, and Panglao in Bohol. According to Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo, while the problem in the areas are not as bad as in Boracay, they should already do something about the growing environmental problems these early. Otherwise, the national government will do the work for them.

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