Lessons on wise coastal management of our islands

(Last of the Series on ‘The Slaughter of Boracay…’)

Last month, President Duterte threatened to shut down Boracay Island, which he described as a “cesspool,” giving the DENR 60 days to clean it up. The DILG suggested a temporary closure of business for 60 days to allow for a speedy clean up on the island. In response, the Senate committees on environment and natural resources, tourism and finance held a fact finding and public hearing on the environment issues last March 2, consulting Dr. Miguel Fortes who had been re-surveying the island earlier. They were Senators Cynthia Villar, Loren Legarda, Nancy Binay, Miguel Zubiri, convened with DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu, DOT Secretary Wanda Teo, and DILG Officer-in-Charge Eduardo Año.

Senate confronts DENR, DILG and DOT with ultimatum in Boracay

At the hearing, the senators castigated officials of the DENR and local leaders of Aklan for allowing several business establishments to operate without securing the necessary permits from the government. Only 118 of 834 business establishments have permits to discharge wastewater, while 173 establishments are currently operating without environmental compliance certificates (ECCs) and did not deserve permits. DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu admitted that the “weakest link” of the department was its enforcement of environmental laws.

Sen. Cynthia Villar, chair of the hearing, suggests the impossible feat to the president to close down only erring business establishments. That’s almost 300 of 834 business establishments. Meantime, DOT Secretary Wanda Teo claimed that DOT’s functions are limited to coordinating and promotion. Only?  Beside it is actually her “over-promotion” that jeopardized the whole affair! DILG Officer-in-Charge Eduardo Año again resorted to a ‘stop-gap’ measure, merely creating a task force, instead of addressing the root causes.

Dr. Fortes’ analysis on how to get things done immediately

The issue of Boracay goes much beyond sewage or non-compliance with laws. Once normal and simple, they were made complex and complicated by decades of apathy, shortsightedness, and inaction on the part of stakeholders. The DENR, DILG and the local executives are to blame because they do not enforce the law. Is it necessary for the president’s ‘threat’ of closure of Boracay to remind his people that they are not doing their jobs well in the island?

Why have the issues persisted for so long? Because words and action meant to improve the conditions had very little to do with sustainability. Despite the assets of Boracay, lack of urgency among its policymakers when addressing “sustainable development” issues has created a serious disconnect between scientific knowledge and the way policy is formulated and practiced, leading to improvements in the science-policy-practice interface. If these are implemented piecemeal and not done in the spirit of transdisciplinarity, they themselves will cause the demise of Boracay.

Urgent actions to take for environmental sustainability of any tourism destination

It is necessary to have the Integrated Coastal Management instrument to effectively link science, policy and practice. The Environment Code of Boracay, which Dr. Fortes wrote has just been approved by the Sangguniang Bayan of Malay. This addresses the issues in a transdisciplinary way: respect the true carrying capacity of tourists by regulating the number of visitors; rationalize the prices of commodities for tourists while providing basic goods and services to the underprivileged local residents. Enforce laws consistently exercising corresponding penalties. An adequate budget must complement this.

Create Institute of Center for Sustainable Tourism operating under a transdisciplinary curriculum, drawing support from a network of scientific agencies which were actively involved in the study of 16 islands all over the country in 1986-2010. These are:  UP Marine Science Institute (UP-MSI), Maritime and Ocean Affairs (MOAO-DFA), Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA-DOST), Philippine Councilor on Agriculture, Aquatic, and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD-DOST), Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR-DA), UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines (UNACOM-DFA), Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA-DENR), Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS-DOST). Current UNESCO Secretary General Lila Shahani is reviving the Marine Science Committee to support “Man and the Biosphere,” a global project to conserve biodiversity.

‘Sandwatch’ lessons in the Caribbean Island and Australia

“Sandwatch” started in Tobago – a Caribbean state trying to focus on “making science live” in conserving the coast and the sea. Basic Education teachers credited students in various beach assessment activities integrating it into the school curriculum. The activities were repeated as UNESCO ASPNet projects in other small islands, so that by 2001, eighteen Caribbean countries participated in a three-day workshop in St. Lucia to train teachers in beach monitoring methods relating to erosion, accretion, wave action, water quality and human beach activities. A manual was prepared prior to the event.

In Australia, a federally funded program focusing on coastal stewardship, “Coastcare,” operates nationally. Coastcare is a network with 700 projects supporting which provides support to coastal communities to prepare local coastal management plan, rehabilitate coastal habitats and protect endangered species, e.g. sea turtles, prepare educational info for beach users.

914 coastal islands out of 7,107 waiting to be taken care of

Lieutenant JG May Marfil of the Coast Guard Staff for Marine Environment Protection, cited maritime statistics of the Philippines that maritime versus land area is 9 is to 1. Of 7,107 islands, there are 27,000 sq. km of coral reefs, and 150,000 hectares of mangrove forests. There are 58 coastal provinces out of 77; 914 coastal municipalities out of 1,385; and 11,000 coastal barangays.

Twenty sites in Cebu, Bohol, Camarines Norte, Surigao, Palawan, Guimaras, Siquijor, Camiguin, etc. considered as best islands for beach getaways can fade away like Boracay unless we learn from our grievous mistakes.

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