Save Boracay now, or future generations will condemn us
THE utter selfishness of us all – yes, tourists included, but more so the resort owners and local government officials – led to the deterioration of one of nature’s greatest gifts to mankind, Boracay island. We owe it to future generations to support the temporary closure of this unique island for its much-needed rehabilitation.
In the 1990s when I first visited Boracay, bancas were still allowed to approach via the beachfront. The island looked really green with forested areas seen from afar and lining the beach were coconut palms and those shady Talisay trees. The water was clear and warm, its swirls of blue and green beckoning you to dive in and enjoy.
Disembarking from the banca on the shallow beach, I felt before I saw the sand of the famous White Beach. It was soft on the feet, and when you looked down the white sand dazzled your eyes. You just had to touch it right there and then – it was very fine, almost like powder.
Imagine the thousands of years it took to pummel those corals and seashells to create this precious white sand. This is an ancient beach and we are so very lucky to have this jewel in our midst.
But alas, we Filipinos are not very good in taking care of our natural resources. Untrammelled capitalism, both local and foreign, meant that resorts and hotels were allowed willynilly to build establishments along the beach – with many violating the mandated 30-meter shoreline easement.
Many of the business owners and residents also failed to properly dispose of their septic wastes through a treatment facility. It was revolting to see and smell first-hand the untreated wastewater being released into Bulabog Beach, which is on the other side of White Beach, and was a favorite spot for wind and kite surfing.
Apparently, many of the businesses and houses in Boracay did not connect to the island’s sewerage lines with some even illegally tapping into the rainwater drainage pipes. Water sampling done this month in Bulabog Beach showed that they had very high levels of fecal coliform contamination. How gross.
With this information in mind, can you blame President Rodrigo Duterte when he called Boracay a “cesspool”? The President is also poised to call for a six months or one-year closure of the island to visitors as recommended by the Departments of Environment and Natural Resources, the Interior and Local Government, and even the Department of Tourism.
It seems that the only government agency not to get the “memo” that Boracay will be temporarily shutdown is the state-owned Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR), which recently issued a provisional gaming license to a Macau company that will build a $500 million resortcasino in the island.
Galaxy Entertainment and local partner Leisure and Resorts World Corp. plan to start construction on the casino-resort in 2019. Their timing is very bad since the government has been closing establishments violating environmental laws and here comes a new business that will put an additional strain on the island’s resources.
No date has been set for the closure of Boracay although logically, the Duterte government will wait for the end of the peak tourist season in June. This should give business owners enough time to make money that will sustain them until the island opens again.
It will be difficult, certainly, especially for the ordinary workers employed in Boracay’s 300 hotels and resorts, not including the staff in various restaurants, coffee bars, massage parlors, and other shops. It is hoped that the cash-rich business owners will find it in their capitalist hearts to find temporary jobs for their employees.
Nonetheless, there’s a solution afoot with the plan to declare Boracay under a state of calamity. According to President Duterte, this would allow the government to use its calamity funds to extend financial assistance to those employees that will be displaced by the island’s closure.
Boracay is tiny, only about 10 square kilometers in size, just a dot when aligned with the huge neighboring islands in Western Visayas such as Panay, where its home province of Aklan lies in the northwest. But Boracay is principally governed by the municipality of Malay in the tip of Aklan province – and therein lies the rub.
Malay’s local officials appear to be less concerned about the environmental degradation in Boracay than with making money from the various local taxes and fees they collect from the Boracay businesses.
Did the local government have a plan on how many establishments a small island like this can support? How strictly were they enforcing local and national laws on environmental protection? I say they were too lax or too lazy with implementing laws until Duterte’s tirade about the smell of “shit” in Boracay.
There’s no easy way to go about this. A temporary closure is the best option at this point. The government cannot possibly clean up the beach, install all the necessary sewerage pipes, demolish illegal structures, restore the wetlands, and do a hundred other tasks that go with protecting this prime piece of land with thousands of tourists milling about.
“If we have a short-term view, the island will just continue to deteriorate. Only this generation can enjoy it while the next generation can’t,” said Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar. “So we must really bite the bullet or take the bitter pill.”