Close Boracay and give it time to heal

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BY LUIS BUENAFLOR JR.
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Friday, March 2, 2018
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PEOPLE, Boracay is tired. Please give it a chance to rest and breathe.

If the island were a marathon runner it would have been running non-stop since the day tourists first stepped on its white sand beaches and it is on the verge or has already collapsed from sheer exhaustion.

Perhaps the analogy was too much for the uninitiated. Here’s something more on their level: Let’s liken Boracay to a prostitute; it does not matter whether male or female, as a prostitute your body is your main asset and source of income.

If you don’t take care of it after years of use it will succumb to disease and age and eventually lose its market value. Ergo your main source of income diminishes till it dries up.

And this is exactly what’s happening to Boracay’s overused, overpopulated and abused environment. Everybody is just concerned with profits, nobody cares what happens to the fragile ecosystem of the island as long as they make money.

Now the “goose that lays the golden egg” is sick, perhaps dying and they still don’t want to give it a chance to recuperate. All they want is the “golden eggs” with nary a concern if the “goose” dies.

For decades the abuse of Boracay has largely went unchecked, the unscrupulous profiteers made a mockery of environmental laws.

The biggest joke is the so-called “environmental fee” collected from all visitors to the island. Moi was a frequent visitor to Boracay and has never seen the most simple tool in keeping the island at least garbage-free – a proper garbage bin.

No public official from President down to mayor has the political will to enforce the law until Rodrigo Duterte became President and this happened:

Here are excerpts from a Feb. 12 Reuters news:

Philippine leader threatens to close ‘sewer pool’ holiday island of Boracay

MANILA – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday ordered an urgent cleanup of the country’s most famous tourist hotspot, Boracay, calling it a “sewer pool” that he would not hesitate to shut down completely.

The firebrand leader said he has given Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu six months to fix up the mess on Boracay island, which he said was overdeveloped and had become a “disaster.”

Consistently voted by travel magazines as one of the top tourist destinations for relaxation, Boracay brings important revenues from five-star resorts and beachside restaurants and remains a lure for South Koreans, Chinese, Americans, and Australians.

But Duterte warned that may not be the case for much longer because of what he said were piles of uncollected garbage just 20-25 meters from the beach and sewage flowing into the sea.

“You created a disaster there,” Duterte said in a speech on Cebu, another central island.

Duterte said he was holding the local government and Boracay residents responsible for being “overzealous” with development, allowing structures to be built up to the beach without proper sewage and water treatment facilities.

“I will charge you for serious neglect of duty, making Boracay a fishpond or a sewer pool,” he said. “There will be a time that no more foreigners will go there.”

Some resort owners in Boracay were in “denial”, even blaming Duterte for going public with the mess in Boracay. Obviously their concern is the loss of revenues, not saving the island.

Boracay needs to shut down so that the healing process can start and the sooner the better for all concerned and this is what the Department of Tourism has in mind.

From the Feb. 27 issue of Panay News:

DOT eyes closing Boracay from July to October

 Tourism secretary Wanda Teo said they are eyeing to close this popular beach destination from July to October to pave way for the demolition of establishments that limit the island’s easement zone.

The easement zone measures 25 meters plus five meters between buildings and the high-tide mark of the shore.

Teo said yesterday that Environment secretary Roy Cimatu will lead the dismantling of the erring establishments.

But tour operators pleaded with concerned government agencies to pursue demolition works “portion by portion.”

This would take longer than six months, as what President Rodrigo Duterte demanded, said Teo.

“We have to temporarily close. Ang (suggestion) namin is during Habagat (season),” Teo told radio DZMM.

She added, “Sa ngayon, we will be giving them time, but comes Habagat season, usually pag Habagat season naman wala masyadong nagpupunta sa Boracay.”

Some 850 establishments have been served show-cause orders for easement violations and not connecting to the sewerage treatment plant, said Tourism assistant secretary Frederick Alegre.

Only 18 percent of the about 500 accredited hotel and resorts in the island were connected to the sewer system, Alegre added.

Teo stressed that the six-month period for the island cleanup is not workable due to the pre-scheduled trips of tourists.

She also appealed to the President to declare a state of calamity in the island, so that national officials can step in and “move fast.”

Boracay can still be saved. They just need to close it down and fix it. (brotherlouie16@gmail.com/PN)
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