Boracay crisis not an isolated case — DENR

BACOLOD CITY – The Boracay crisis is not an isolated case, Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu admitted over the weekend.

“It is also affecting other high-traffic tourist destinations to a lesser degree, such as El Nido and Coron in Palawan, Puerto Galera in Oriental Mindoro and Panglao Island in Bohol,” Cimatu said in a speech read for him by former Armed Forces of the Philippines chief Victor Ibrado before participants of the three-day 38th Pollution Control Association of the Philippines Inc. (PCAPI) National Convention at L’Fisher Hotel here.

Cimatu said the serious degradation of the Boracay environment started in the 1990s when the tourism boom started without adequate pollution-control facilities, systems and safeguards in place.

“When the rapid pace of development overwhelmed the carrying capacity of the environment and virtually relegated pollution control to an afterthought, the solution was practically to hide the solution, by flushing untreated wastewater directly into the seas,” Cimatu said.

“The pollution grew so bad that it could no longer be hidden, and visible giveaways like algal blooms were seen in the seas and also large volumes of uncollected solid wastes,” he added.

With the crackdown in Boracay and other leading ecotourism destinations underway, Cimatu said they are now sending the message that pollution control should be made a priority.

Aware that pollution control officers have a crucial role in the preservation of the environment, Cimatu said he expects them to become more assertive in making companies, local government units and organizations they serve to be fully compliant with anti-pollution laws, rules, regulations and standards.

“We will not allow violators to profit from poisoning our environment,” he said, adding that the continued laxity and complacency of recent decades will compromise the future.

“The environment is not a bottomless trash can; its carrying capacity is not infinite,” Cimatu emphasized, adding that he wants pollution control professionals fully empowered and supported by their employers or clients to deliver the results required by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.