Boracay’s problem

Several years ago I was in Boracay to attend a forum on women’s concerns. I wondered why people went  gaga over the place. The hotel we were booked in was really nice, with  our apartment opening immediately to a swimming pool. There were quaint bars and eateries, blah beaches, and nothing else memorable, but foreigners and local tourists, I suppose because of aggressive promos, have flocked to the island, encouraging frantic hotel and lodging investments, and, understandably,  numerous illegal constructions – most of them not observing the accepted standard for sewage disposal. Swimmers, except those with a sixth sense,  do not probably know that they are swimming in polluted waters. 

Things have turned environmentally bad that President Duterte called Boracay  “a cesspool,” and  threatened the closure of 300 establishments, and Department of Environment and Natural Resources head Roy Cimatu issued notices of violations (NOVs)  to structures for violations of the Clean Water Act and Environmental Impact Statement System. Some legislators are scheduled to visit the place and propose measures to possibly prevent the closure of the false paradise. They can propose the development of Camiguin Island in Misamis Oriental, for me a paradisiacal Eden (which happens to be near my hometown of Gingoog City).  

Once, a long-time resident of Boracay offers his educated view on the problem in Boracay.  Dr. Orlando Sacay, one of the island’s pioneers and former chair of the Boracay Foundation Inc. (BFI) says the problem is not only the sewer problem.

President Duterte, he writes me, observed that many establishments are not connected to the sewerage system and discharge their sewer through the drainage system directly into the sea. Because of pollution, the sand has become discolored and become darker brown. Hence the President wisely pointed out that the sea water stinks and the island is a “cesspool.”

The problem, according to Dr. Sacay, an environmentalist/economist, is the design of the sewerage system. “While the treatment plant separates the solids, the untreated waste water is discarded into the ocean. While the discharge is some distance away, the waste water is blown back to the island during the habagat season.”

Orly recalls that Boracay used to host an international sea sports event in the same side of the island. The participants got stomach and ear infections because of the polluted water. Sea water pollution of coliform was recorded at 2,000/cu inch, way beyond the 500/cu inch standard. The standard was raised to solve the problem  rather than undertaking efforts to reduce coliform pollution.

The problem of the sewer can be resolved with stricter enforcement. However, the other problems have resulted in permanent damage to the island, writes Orly. 

One, the beach disappears during high tide because some establishments could not be prevented from putting up sea walls. As a result, the waves hitting the sea wall eroded the beach and expose the foundation of the one-meter deep sea wall. Only half of the 28 municipal ordinances have been enforced.

Establishments have violated the easement requirement for buildings to be constructed 15 meters from the vegetative line. One violator was the son of a former DENR secretary. A retired general wanted to stop the operation of a resort and disconnected the electrical connection from the main grid, but a call from Malacanang restored the connection by afternoon.

Establishments have built six floors in violation of the three-floor requirement.

Thousands of tricycles and hundreds of trucks and other four-wheel vehicles and loud music of the bars cause air and sound pollution. Eight years ago chairman  Orly proposed a “Beachney” as a system of mass transport to reduce the number of vehicles, and take tricycles out of the island, but this plan did not materialize as there were no takers.

The problem of Boracay comes from the fact that there are 3,000 lot owners, making it difficult to enforce regulation, writes Orly.  The municipal government did not control emigration into the island. There were 2,000 squatters at the time. They were not seen because they were hidden by vegetation. 

A big problem was the lack of coordination between the local government and the DENR. The DENR protested the municipal government’s allowing of a hotel to be built on swamp land, but the latter went ahead.

A Forest Land Use agreement for Tourism Purposes (FLAgT) was allowed for the development of forest land under strict regulations of the DENR. Some 62 establishments initially complied with the requirements, but their applications were returned for some unknown reasons. Implementation  of the FLAgT would have controlled development, writes Orly.

When  Orly was  BFI chair, a material recovery facility was established to handle garbage. Three barangays were responsible by law to establish the MRF. But this was achieved only because of the initiative and financial support of the resort owner members of the BGI.

At that time, Orly recalls, there were 600 boats parked on the beach. Boat operators threw garbage into the sea. Every year a group of divers volunteered  to collect tons of garbage from the bottom of the sea. A welcome development is that all boats are now parked at the Caticlan Port which was constructed, as well as a water system and electrical system.

The BFI fought the plan of the Manila City government to make the Semirara coal mine a garbage dump for two shiploads of garbage daily. Writes Orly: “Since Semirara is located in front of Boracay, spilled garbage during unloading would have been washed ashore to Boracay during Habagat season. Resort owners rallied against the plan and gathered 4,000 protest signatures from guests. A congressional hearing resulted in the stoppage of the plan.”

Orly went to Boracay almost 40 years ago. There was no road, electricity and water system. The runway of the airport was gravel, there was only one bar at the  far end of the island. The beach was pristine. Welcomed foreign topless guests roamed around; now it’s prostitutes doing business. 

Tourist arrivals in the early 1980s were only about 32,000. In 2016 tourist arrivals reached 1,726,483. “Clearly, the carrying capacity of the island has been stretched as there are no regulations to control the quantity and quality of accommodations. The 300 establishments ordered closed is reported to be 60 percent of  the total. It is obvious that regulating 500 establishments would be difficult particularly if a majority are small businesses.”

Foreseeing what would happen to Boracay, Orly sold his four establishments all named Waling-Waling, and moved to Camarines Norte to establish Waling-Waling Eco-Village in Calaguas Islands. There the environmental regulations are very strictly enforced such as approval of a sewage disposal system, air pollution control, drainage system, signage for environmental preservation, employment of a pest control officer and semi-annual ECC compliance report. These regulations, he says, are unheard of in Boracay.

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