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BY MANNY VILLAR
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Wednesday, March 21, 2018
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AS A BUSINESSMAN and environment advocate, I consider President Rodrigo Duterte’s initiative on Boracay as one of his most laudable acts in his less than two-year-old presidency.
It is something that should have been done a long time ago, even before tourists discovered the white sands of Boracay Island in Aklan as one of the best beach destinations in the world.
Speaking at a business forum early last month, the President warned that he would close Boracay Island because it had become a cesspool.
The President described the 1,000-hectare island as a looming environmental disaster that could drive visitors away. Boracay attracts two million visitors a year, and generates more than P56 billion in revenues for the government.
He gave the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) six months to clean up the island.
In another speech last week, the President said he was considering the issuance of a declaration of a state of calamity in Boracay because “it is a public interest, public safety and public health” issue.
Following the President’s statement, reports about the current situation in Boracay came out. In one television news report, a video showed dark water being drained through a large pipe into the sea, while tourists were swimming not too far from the area.
Other reports said many of the businesses operating on the island were not disposing of their wastewater through the local treatment system.
The DENR said that because of illegal settlements by informal settlers and even businesses, five of Boracay’s nine wetlands had disappeared in the past 10 years.
Boracay clearly shows what happens when we neglect to protect the environment.
Closing the island, as the President warned, would displace many people, deprive families of their livelihood and the government of revenues, and would taint the country’s image in the world tourism industry.
Hopefully, the situation would not reach that point. Six months may not be enough to solve all of Boracay’s sanitation problems, but there would be significant change because none of the stakeholders – Boracay residents, local government and businesses – would do everything to keep the island open.
The Department of Tourism (DOT) said it was suspending for six months the accreditation of resorts in Boracay, during which all the establishments must acquire and maintain individual water-treatment facilities, and connect to the central sewerage system.
According to the DENR, its inspection of 578 establishments on the island found that only 383 were connected to the wastewater treatment plants being operated by the Boracay Island Water Corp.
The implementation of sanitation measures in Boracay should extend to all other resorts in the country. There should be no compromises – we should be strict in applying sanitation standards in all of our resorts.
I’m glad that the President’s initiative has served as a wake-up call, and stakeholders in other resorts are planning for environmental cleanup drives in their respective areas.
On Panglao Island in Bohol, the DENR and local officials have scheduled a massive clean-drive in an effort to protect and save Panglao, and avoid the same fate as Boracay.
The department earlier said at least 400 establishments on the island were found violating environmental laws. The Environmental Management Bureau earlier issued notices of violation to 81 establishments for their lack of sewage and wastewater treatment facilities.
With more than 7,000 islands, the Philippines has one of the most number of attractive beach destinations in the world. Different travel websites list as many as 20 top beach destinations in the country, which means many more beach resorts are available to visitors. CNN even has a list of the least known but beautiful Philippine beaches, for travelers who want to enjoy their summer vacations with some degree of privacy.
Aside from Boracay and Panglao, among the frequently listed top beach destinations include White Island in Camiguin, Caramoan in Camarines Sur, Malapascua in Cebu, Pagudpud in Ilocos Norte, Anawangin in Zambales, Balicasag in Bohol, Apo Island in Dumaguete, Isla Naburot in Guimaras, Siargao in Surigao, Danjugan Island in Negros Occidental, and El Nido and other resorts in Palawan.
I said I welcomed President Duterte’s initiative as a businessman because I know how much tourism, whose assets include our beautiful beaches, can contribute to our economy. A few years ago I said in this column that tourism, like remittances from overseas Filipino workers and the business process outsourcing industry, could be developed as a third leg in generating foreign exchange.
Aside from revenues, tourism also attracts investments and creates jobs in the countryside, thereby helping raise the standard of living of Filipinos in the provinces.
Boracay, Panglao and the many other beaches are Nature’s gifts to us, and it is up to us to make them work for our benefit. We only need to keep them clean and preserve their natural attractiveness. Let us treat them as our national treasures.
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This piece first came out in Business Mirror on March 12, 2018 under the column “The Entrepreneur.” For comments/feedback e-mail to: mbv.secretariat@gmail.com or visitwww.mannyvillar.com.ph./PN
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