Saving Bora

Ian Alfredo Magno .

WOULD losing roughly P20 billion – in terms of tourism revenues in six month’s time – a worthy cost for saving a natural heritage in Boracay?

News about Boracay’s temporary closure spread like wildfire when it was ordered shut down from further tourist influx beginning 26 April 2018.  Why wouldn’t it, it’s the top tourism destination in the country – at least because of way too hyped marketing pitches about the island’s supposed splendor, which apparently no longer holds true in reference to the Duterte administration’s no-nonsense perspective.

Incidentally, this administration’s view on the island’s prostitution to resultant environmental hazards in exchange for economic revenues is likewise harbored by experts and institutions advocating for marine resource preservation.  And this observation persisted even before the present administration assumed post.

It was two past Philippine presidents ago, when accordingly a Xavier University Ateneo de Cagayan-based research study revealed Boracay’s upsetting state of deterioration.  Most likely due to poor sewage and septic structures amid the crowding of establishments at the shoreline, coliforms, ecoli and apparently algal blooms are a mainstay at the beach front.  To locals and unsuspecting aficionados, these are but a natural happening, which is similar to public beaches elsewhere. Shockingly, however, according to experts, such algal invasion indicates the presence of both animal and human feces and other wastes within the immediate vicinity.  This gives the impression that sewage dumps egress to the waters of Boracay beach.  Where else do all those fecal presence originate from?

The pollutants not only pose health and sanitization hazards to bikini-clad celebrities, tourists and local patrons who take selfies half-submerged in their favorite Boracay waters (whew); Moreover, the bacteria it brings likewise threaten the very marine and coral life which make Boracay as splendid as it originally was.

Now the question: Is the closure worth the P20-billion revenue loss?  Given the spiraling decline of Boracay’s marine system, the drastic response taken by the Duterte administration seems to be a reverberating “Yes!”

Turning a blind eye won’t make it any better – not even the P20-billion revenue estimate would be spared eventually.  The idea is plain and simple.  How could a fecal-infested beach continue to attract more visitors?

Understandably, such a state would ultimately cause the significant decline of tourist activities at the spot. The net effect? We lose the income, and we lose Boracay, too? With such a threat two-pronged threat, the closure seems worth it after all.

(Ian Alfredo T. Magno is a Cagayan de Oro-based lawyer, and he is with Philhealth’s membership and marketing. E-mail: ianalfredom@gmail.com)