Lessons from Camotes
One can tell a lot about a people from the state of its coast. The Camotes Islands’ proximity to its neighbors is a mixed blessing. The main port of Poro is two hours away by fast craft departing from the pier of Cebu City.
Another port in Consuelo is also a favored jump-off site for passengers traveling via roll-on/ roll-off (Ro-ro) ships from Danao, on the northern side of Cebu Province.
Travelers from Ormoc and Leyte head for the port of Pilar.
Aside from accessibility, Camotes—composed of three major islands and an islet—is blessed with natural and cultural attractions.
Its beaches, marine sanctuaries, caves, churches, native delicacies and other local crafts have built over the years a steady stream of regular visitors, composed of tourists and Filipinos who trace their roots to Camotes.
Given that tourism is thriving, it is a telling landmark about Camotes that the islands of Poro and Pacijan have coasts that are well-insulated from disaster by thick, mature forests of mangroves.
Mangroves are not just for beholding and firefly-watching. For coasts that are vulnerable to waves and the resulting erosion, mangroves hold fast to soil and sand.
These shield coastal communities from storms and minimize possible destruction. Serving as marine nurseries, a mangrove forest provides everything from fish and seafood to natural remedies, animal fodder, and construction supplies.
Yet, what is a cornucopia for local communities may be seen as an obstacle by sun worshippers. Rich in organic matter, mangrove soil is composed of sand, silt, and clay, resulting in a kind of mud that makes trees and marine life thrive but repels people more interested in pursuing water sports and beach combing.
Maintaining the balance of ecology, disaster preparedness and tourism is the challenge of the people and leaders of the Camotes Islands.
In 2011, the prestigious United Nations (UN) Sasakawa Award for Disaster Risk Reduction was given to the Municipality of San Francisco in Camotes.
The local practice of empowering the “purok” system—neighboring households based in sitios in a barangay—to plan and pursue self-help initiatives from waste segregation to tapping indigenous knowledge for disseminating information and assessing risk emerged as the top choice for the UN Sasakawa Award, which recognized community responses to the UN’s “Making Cities Resilient” Campaign in 2011.
The “purok” system thrives till now, as seen in youths tapped by the barangay to gather daily food trash left along the beaches of Santiago Bay, for instance.
However, the necessity of mobilizing these local youths is at the same time a red flag. Shouldn’t visitors also have a sense of stakeholdership and dispose their trash properly, instead of littering the seashore?
The ebbing of the tides leave a trail of detritus that is tragic and infuriating to see on Santiago White Beach and Mangodlong. Not far from the discarded cans and bottles are schools of fish, corals, and other marine life, which amaze and silence waders and snorkelers for their diversity and beauty.
It is apparent from the food packaging that these were left behind by visitors.
While the “purok” system of San Francisco has been sustained since it was internationally recognized, the people and leaders of Camotes Islands have to recognize new challenges in their midst: the rise of tourism.
The impact of the tourism industry is not only felt as pressure on the natural endowments of Camotes. The preservation of the cultural legacy of Camotes must be prioritized for local government and community support.
“Kinamotes” is the way outsiders refer to a dialect spoken by locals. However, Jeneth Borlasa, a University of the Philippines Cebu lecturer who traces her roots to Poro, asserts that the accurate term is “Porohanon” because the dialect is only spoken fluently up to this day in Poro.
The need to sustain the legacies of Camotes for future generations is the call that Camotes must answer.