Is it really fun in Boracay?

(Part I)

Last Monday, when the worst of monsoon rains was over, the devastation that hit all of Luzon, particularly Metro Manila, provoked columnist Cito Beltran (CTalk) to challenge President Benigno Aquino III to “walk his talk.” I quote:

“When President Noynoy Aquino announced that he would make local government officials responsible for the deaths and damage that happened during last week’s non-stop rains, I certainly felt like telling him: ‘I double dare you.’

“Yes I definitely wanted to see how far the President would and could go as far as making Mayors and Barangay Captains responsible for ‘endangering’ people by allowing them to live in danger zones such as river banks, under bridges, and on top of or beside geo hazardous locations.”

We don’t have enough laws

“The truth is that we have too many laws that make it almost impossible to remove, eject, or relocate people from danger zones. On the other hand, we don’t have enough laws that make it criminal for local officials not to do something about the situation, we don’t have laws that prevent Meralco and MWSS from supplying utilities to informal settlers, we don’t have laws preventing the COMELEC from registering informal settlers.

“We don’t have laws that prevent people from taking up residence in communities where they don’t have property, rental agreement, or pay local taxes. We need to rationalize and consolidate all laws pertaining to squatting. THEN WE HAVE THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE THAT HAS GIVEN TOO MUCH POWER AND TOO MUCH ROOM FOR INTERPRETATION TO THE ADVANTAGE OF LOCAL OFFICIALS. In other words, the President and this administration need to fix the legislative problem once and for all.”

Marine scientist Miguel Fortes’ Boracay Watch

Dr. Miguel Fortes is a passionate coastal ecologist, biodiversity and integrated coastal area management specialist. He is a professor of Marine Science at UP Marine Science Institute with distinguished work credentials from Duke University, NC, USA, University of Hamburg, West Germany, and UNESCO. Because of his 27 years of experience on coastal restoration ecology, linking this to management, he is a technical consultant to 37 projects dealing with resource assessment, mitigation, advocacy and policy formulation. He is also the project manager of JST-JICA Project Coastal Ecosystems Conservation and Adaptive Management in collaboration with 8 Japanese institutions.

Dr. Fortes’ professional life “… is deeply rooted in marine science. But it is this grounding, coupled with his passion to apply and share his science to improve the environment and people’s lives, that made him ‘see something extraordinary’ in nature’s ordinary designs, making him an internationally known scientist, teacher, and well-respected humanist in science.

Below is the latest article he wrote calling the public’s attention to how the drastic degradation of Boracay island is converting it into a miserable ghetto of high rise condominiums.

I think a “slaughter” is taking place before our eyes and we choose to remain oblivious to it. On the “dossier,” our victim is Boracay, and the murderers are the developers and owners. The accomplices are the local government officials. The motive behind the ongoing environmental crime: GREED. This is Dr. Fortes’ analysis:

The Case: Growth vs. Development. Environment and development can be the best of friends, instead of being head-butting enemies. “No earth, no business” – was the dictum agreed on at a ministerial conference in Manado, Indonesia, a few years back. It’s very simple to understand. If there were no environment, would there be development?

With the harmful consequences of habitat modification, resources depletion, and global warming, the small improvements achieved by economic gains are cancelled out by environmental degradation, not to mention the serious social injustice that is tied up with it.

Sad to say, but in the Philippines, there is an excessive emphasis on “growth” in terms of numbers, volumes, and luxuries, without focusing on “development” in terms of quality. Improper implementations of sound development policies, coupled with the indifference of local authorities have amplified the failure of environmental protection strategies. And among so many other places in the country, Boracay has been a consistent case in point.

The ‘wrongdoers’

A big developer is now building condos, shops and houses in overloaded Boracay, as if there are no more of such problems in the island. They are bulldozing the tops of the hills, constructing a nine-hole golf course, and drastically modifying the landscape. On witnessing this senselessness, a Swiss national commented, “Wow! What a pity, destroying such a beautiful place!” But the owners and developers do not see it this way.

In fact, they will tell you that they will compliment and enhance the place because they “follow” the law, and have the money to buy the needed technology necessary to sustain the environment. Yes, they claim to have environmentally-sustainable programs!

These developers and owners are the moneyed class. They are supposed to know (they know!) how to pursue development in harmony with the environment. They know the consequence of their acts, but they know much better the ways to sweep all these under the rug. They shun an honest environmental impact assessment simply because they don’t want their profits reduced. In their minds, recycling water for the golf course or planting a tree is already helping the environment. And the inadequately trained or uninformed local officials could only simply agree a pay off, passing a resolution to endorse the said development. Many resorts have been operating even without the proper permits! A local owner admitted on television: “Ganyan talaga ang kalakaran dito, operate muna bago ang permit!” (Author’s insert: Last year in June, Malay Municipal Mayor John Yap ordered West Cove resort, opposite end of Boracay, closed for building on a NO-BUILD ZONE. DENR had it demolished as concerned business groups led by Boracay Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Boracay Foundation objected to their building structures on rock formations, lack of business, building and occupancy permits.)

Do these non-Boracayons truly and honestly know to what extent their development could impact the environment and lives of people? Do they even ask whether their place in Boracay can handle the impacts – environmentally and socially? Are they not even concerned with the obvious and disturbing fact that the past and present governance in Boracay have been incapable of meeting the challenges facing the island’s growth management requirements? Do they want to see good governance on the island or subvert it to meet their selfish motives?

The motive

While a few of these hotel and resort owners are truly sincere in their effort to conserve the beauty of Boracay, many others are driven by GREED in the light of their investment timeline.

For the environment, 50 years is short to witness a sense of sustainability; but for these guys, 20 years is long enough for a place or an investment. So, they have to maximize the opportunity to get back the capital at the shortest possible time, and after…who cares? In the near end, it is the place like Boracay island that is left derelict and unsafe; its people deprived of their livelihood base and bereft of their dignity. Are we not seeing these all over the country?

Can President Noynoy ‘haul to jail’ erring mayors, barangay captains, DILG and DENR for disregarding public duty?

Quoting again from Cito Beltran’s article CTalk, “I am confident that if President Noynoy puts his mind to it, he could actually haul at least a handful of Mayors and Barangay Captains to jail for blatantly disregarding their public duty or moral responsibility to use police powers.

In the same breath, it is about time that the President calls the Department of Interior and Local Government or DILG to account in terms of what they have actually done to monitor, supervise or even discipline local officials who have ignored or lived with the “problem”. Even the Department of Environment and Natural Resources knows that many “Open Spaces” intended for environmental management have been taken over by business establishments, local officials as well as squatters. But DILG and the DENR have simply looked the other way and done nothing about the problem.”

(Part III: Boracay Island Mismanagement – Paradise Lost)