I. BORACAY is suffering from over-development, exacerbated by the free-wheeling granting of construction permits by the local government there. In recent articles coming out in the press, both the DENR and the DOT have pointed their fingers at the local municipality as the main culprit. The DENR and DOT have finally put their collective feet down (finally!) and have called for a moratorium on new construction, but only for six months.
II. An effort to police their own ranks is being heralded by the Boracay Chamber of Commerce headed by a good friend and classmate, Charlie Uy, proprietor of the award-winning Patio Pacific resort. They put up a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) with the help of a P2-M grant from the Canadian government agency CIDA and a counterpart P2M from the chamber members. This facility is a positive step towards the solution of the garbage problem in paradise. Charlie Uy says it now earns about P40M a day.
III. In a recent visit made by my AIM ’73 class which celebrated its 35th anniversary, I noticed the continued encroachment by various establishments along the treeline. In fact, the original area around Boat Station 1 is probably hopeless since most establishments are practically on the beach itself, and the road straddles the area right behind.
IV. The vaunted drainage system being put in place is going nowhere since no one wants the outflow beside his establishment. Thus, over P100M has been spent with no visible results except severe flooding every time it rains. And why not, since the rainwater has no natural outflow courses to follow leading to the sea!
V. The airport facility in Caticlan is probably best described as horrendous. Especially with the number of planes and tourists going in and out of the place. Perhaps the DOTC or DOT-PTA could lend a hand instead of pointing fingers at one another?
VI. The proposed Master Plan is decades late. But it may as well start now, and hope that the paradise that one expects of Boracay will not become a paradise lost. (With apologies to Milton)
February 20th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
it was a good thing i went to boracay when it was still considered “heaven on earth”.
businessmen and travellers must understand that they are dealing with mother nature. that they must take care of it. we are lucky to even get a glimpse of that (once?) natural beauty.
the flooding, the mountain pile of trash…people are responsible for all those mess. hence, people should take action immediately or we’d be too late to salvage what’s left of “paradise”.
doing what’s best for boracay is also doing what’s best for the country. whenever someone helps out or suggests on how to preserve the place, it is a challenge not only for the locals but for every Filipino who still wish to see boracay alive…
February 1st, 2008 at 12:40 pm
I hope that Boracay Man does not take offense at the observations I made, esp since many who live and work there agree on the whole. For info, Boracay was once indirectly under my care in the mid-80s — when it was still relative primitive (which is the way many wanted it to be), and both and I and my successors sought to put some rationale into the system. In a way, we anticipated some growth in the tourism traffic to the island, but I am sure that none of us foresaw the level of development and economic activity going on there now.
What we all hope is that the island’s natural charms and resources don’t get trashed and wasted and go the way of so many other tourist destinations that suffocated from over-development.
I am concerned, and have been ever since I first laid eyes on the island.
January 30th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
boracay just for night life only…….its not a paradise anymore…sad to say.
January 25th, 2008 at 11:29 am
If they don’t response and act as fast as possible in our own Boracay this will end up to Ghost town…..If these people from the LGU’s won’t analyze the long-term effect of non-stop constructions without masterplan I feel sorry for them one day.
January 24th, 2008 at 5:47 am
i don’t like people spending a couple of nights in boracay and speak about what’s best for it.