Gov't to remove people, not hotels in Boracay (UPDATED)

THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will be adopting a "low-density" plan for Boracay Island, as part of its efforts to rehabilitate the area and reduce the  latter's environment stress.

A high-ranking DENR official said, however, a low-density plan did not mean the number of hotels and resorts would be reduced, even as the agency finalizes the study on the island's carrying capacity.

In an interview with this writer, DENR Undersecretary for Attached Agencies Sherwin S. Rigor said the agency will be releasing the carrying capacity study “within this month, because we are finetuning [it]. We’re including the weight of the facility also, not just of human beings. The first question there was the carrying capacity of people. But we discovered also the degradation of the environmental areas there, including the use of land. So we included that as well.”

The inter-agency Task Force Boracay estimates that the carrying capacity of the island, hailed by travel publications as one of the best islands in the world for its long, powdery, white-sand beach, was breached in 2009, when visitor arrivals then reached some 650,000. Last year, visitor arrivals on the island reached 2 million, more than half of who were foreign tourists. 

(UPDATE Aug. 26: The Task Force already discussed the carrying capacity study commissioned by the DENR, and drawn up by scientists from UP Los Baños in their meeting last August 22, Wednesday. Members of the task force, however, have declined to release said study.)

The Environmental Literacy Council defines "carrying capacity" as an ecosystem's ability to support people and other living things without having any negative effects. "It also includes a limit of resources and pollution levels that can be maintained without experiencing high levels of change. If carrying capacity is exceeded, living organisms must adapt to new levels of consumption or find alternative resources. Carrying capacity can be affected by the size of the human population, consumption of resources, and the level of pollution and environmental degradation that results. Carrying capacity, however, need not be fixed and can be expanded through good management and the development of new resource-saving technologies."

Rigor said the DENR is “moving forward [toward making Boracay a] low density development” because right now, it is now “high density. It’s a matter of [the island’s] land use.” But he clarified that in moving towards a low-density development plan for Boracay, this would not mean a significant reduction of the number of hotels and resorts on the island. “Definitely there is decongestion. So you must decongest what part you want to decongest. Right now, [there are] the hotels, the tourists, the workers coming from the other islands who are not residents of Boracay. So we're willing to make a balance; the workers are the ones who will be transferred, just to make the [island focused] on tourism development.”

Task Force Boracay wants to use the masterplan designed by Architect Jun Palafox, which featureslow-rise accommodations, expansive green spaces, a rail system or environmentally-friendly transport vehicles, among others. But it was not clear if the Task Force would pay for the masterplan or the local government of Malay, which commissioned it.

Rigor also disabused the public’s perception that Boracay Island is overbuilt. “It's not overbuilt. It's overused and overpopulated. We will be making a full plan of it…. At present, we're planning to remove the workers living on Boracay. There are about 20,000-30,000 who occupy forestlands, wetlands, [and] lands owned by the government. So when we transfer them to the mainland, that will substantially decrease the population.” He said the 20,000 workers are in just one shift. In contrast, there were about 18,000 tourists who visited Boracay daily. 

He stressed that the DENR will likely not move to reduce the number of hotels and resorts on the island, “because there is still area you can build upon.” During the last hearing of the Senate Committee on Tourism, Senator Nancy S. Binay pointed out the need to determine the carrying capacity of the island before it is reopened, and found out that hotels and resorts were already selling their rooms in anticipation of said reopening. (See, “To open or not to open Boracay Island, that is the question for Binay,” in the BusinessMirror, July 17, 2018.)

But Rigor stressed that accommodation establishments on Boracay “cannot sell yet their rooms until they are compliant. Without the compliance, we will not open them. But we will open Boracay.”

The DOT has estimated that there are 430 hotels on Boracay, with rooms at some 15,000 as of March 2018. It also said it was targetting only 30 percent of the rooms to be available for tourist bookings by October 26, the announced date or Boracay's reopening. (See, "Only 30% of Boracay hotels seen opening by October 26," in the BusinessMirror, August 13, 2018.)

He expressed confidence that the rehabilitation of the island was still on track to reopen on October 26. “We still have 90 days. We're confident [we will reopen on schedule],” adding that the widening of the main road need not be 100-percent completed. “You just need to start where are the congestion of hotels,” he averred.

President Duterte ordered the closure of Boracay Island, once dubbed the “best beach in the world” by travel magazines, for six months beginning April 26. It was to make way for the government rehabilitation program, which entails the restoration of environmentally-stressed areas, completion of the sewerage system, removal of easement obstructions, widening of the main road, construction of a diversion road, and decongestion of the island of transport vehicles. 

In 2017, the island generated some P56 billion in tourism receipts.

Travel Bites: The 'Galapagos of Asia'

THE first time I heard about Sibuyan Island was from my father. During World War II, as the Japanese military forces spread to the Visayan region, my father’s family left home in Capiz and took refuge on the island, in the province of Romblon.

If you look at the map, it’s easy to see why. Sibuyan’s relative isolation it is one of the three major islands that make up Romblon—made it an ideal sanctuary from the vagaries of war. And while there has been intermittent commercial air service between Manila and Tablas (the larger of the province’s islands), travel to Sibuyan has mainly been via ferry or pumpboat.

On the upside, the island’s relative seclusion has kept its environment pristine. It’s been dubbed as the “Galapagos of Asia” because of its rich biodiversity, with over 50 tree species found unique only to Sibuyan, as well as a number of endangered mammals and birds that are endemic to the island. According to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) web site, “the forest density in Sibuyan is 1,551 trees per hectare, making it the densest forest ever recorded in the Philippines.”

Mount Guiting-Guiting is a favorite of mountain climbers. It's name is taken from the vernacular describing its jagged edges, or "guiting-guiting". (Photo from http://www.wowromblon.com/)

Many of these flora and fauna can be found deep in the forests of Sibuyan and are now endangered because of previous DENR policies that allowed the cutting of trees as well as commercial mining operations. Despite the fervent opposition of the local government, the Catholic Church, and Sibuyan residents to mining, the island was not included in President Aquino’s Executive Order on mining, which listed 78 protected zones (only Romblon island was categorized a “no-go” zone).

Every December, the main municipality of San Fernando celebrates the Feast Day of the Immaculate Conception (December 8) through the Pag-alad Festival, with costume and float parades, and street dancing. It’s best to visit Sibuyan during the dry months, although sea transports still operate during the monsoon season. Just be prepared for a rough and tumble ride.

Must-see's

After setting down your bags in your local inn or resort, you can hire a tricycle or Jeepney to take you around the island. Here are a few spots of interest:

Mount Guiting-Guiting is a favorite of mountaineers because of the tremendous challenges in climbing it. It is a series of jagged peaks—hence, the name guiting-guiting in the vernacular—so expect terrain pitches up to angles of 90 degrees. It was declared a national park in 1996; but the unfettered encroachment of upland settlers who live off the mountain has resulted in some areas of balding due to slash-and-burn farming. Still, it makes for a great hike in the lower regions of the mountain. Those who intend to climb to the summit need to secure a permit and a local guide at the DENR Substation in Barangay  Tampayan, in the town of Magdiwang. (For inquiries, contact: Hurley Salig, provincial environment officer of Odiongan, Romblon at (042)567-5030; or  0917-8831125).

Swim with the fish and shrimps in the Cantingas River, declared as the “cleanest inland body of water in the Philippines,” and the second-cleanest river in the world. The river has carved its own path amid a lush, fertile valley, which visitors can view in its entirety by climbing a viewing platform, or taking a zip-line ride hosted by the Cantingas River Resort in San Fernando. Thrillseekers can also jump off specific ledges and dive into the cool waters of the river. (Contact: Aniceto Aganan, 0906-1617708).

Firefly watching at the Magdiwang River (Photo from www.romblon.com)

Take a cruise at dusk along the Magdiwang River to watch fireflies! These winged beetles try to attract their mates or prey with their luminous bellies and are seen usually flitting about mangrove trees making the latter look like lit-up Christmas trees! After the one-hour cruise, you can have dinner at the river’s Floating Restaurant. There is also a fish sanctuary nearby which can be visited earlier, if you’re into snorkeling. (Contact: Teroy Rivero at 0919-802907).

Frolic in the cool waters of several waterfalls on the island. Busay Falls and Dagubdub Falls are in San Fernando, while Lambingan Falls is in Magdiwang. Be warned, however, that there is some amount of rock climbing and trekking involved so wear comfortable hiking shoes and bring a change of clothes. Aside from the rocks where these waterfalls flow over and around, there are a myriad of local flora that might be easily missed. On closer inspection, for instance, the carnivorous pitcher plants abound in Dagubdub Falls. Because of its height, Busay Falls is the most picturesque of the three. (Tricycles can take you to the various waterfalls but at some point, you have to hike the rest of the way.)

One shouldn’t miss the Cresta de Gallo Island, a relatively uninhabited islet 45 minutes away by outrigger pumpboat from Barangay Azagra in San Fernando. Although there are no resorts and other tourist facilities on the islet, it is getting popular because of its powdery white-sand beach, and an incredible swimming/snorkeling experience in its clear turquoise waters. Aside from multicolored fish, there are reported sightings of stingrays, turtles, even dolphins! A family that takes care of the islet is a useful source of information and can be approached to catch fresh fish for meals. An overnight stay is recommended just to max out your visit, but you have to bring all your camping essentials, as well as food and water.

An old 17th-centrury chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary of Candeleria can also be found in Azagra. Its stone façade and exteriors have been preserved but its interiors are modern. You can also visit Lamao Lake, a 7-hectare natural lake in the barangay and walk to its hills where a solar-powered lighthouse looks out to the sea. Wait for the sun to set and be amazed.

Needless to say, fresh seafood abound on Sibuyan Island so you can have a veritable array of choices from among the small carinderias, local resort restaurants and in the stalls in the public market. Due to the rising number of tourists on the island, a few restaurants serving pizzas and pastas have also cropped up in San Fernando.  Popular local delicacies include kinilaw, dried fish like the bulad, as well as spicy ginamos, the local version of the bagoong.

Where to stay

If you want to wake up amid lush surroundings with a view of the mighty Mount Guiting-Guiting, you may want to check out Sanctuary Garden Resort (http://sanctuarygardenresort.com/index.html) in Barangay Tampayan, Magdiwang. The accommodations are patterned after native huts and built of wood materials, with air-conditioned rooms for couples and groups. It offers local guided tours, free maps to nearby points of interest, as well as transportation for rent to go around the island (bikes, motorbikes, Jeepneys).

For clean and safe budget accommodations, go to Seabreeze Inn in San Fernando. The place is fairly well known among the locals so any tricycle can take you there. Its bamboo huts have verandas, which face the sea.

Getting there

Travelers with a reasonable amount of an adventurous streak will probably forget the slight amount of pain in getting to Sibuyan Island as soon as they sink into the breathtaking scenery.

From Manila, take a flight to Roxas City via PAL Express or Cebu Pacific, and then go to Culasi Port for a four- to six-hour pumpboat ride to Sibuyan Island.

You can also travel by sea from the Batangas Port to Sibuyan via Romblon. Shipping lines that travel to Romblon and Sibuyan Island are Montenegro Ferry (T# 043-723-6980/723-8294); Super Shuttle Ferry; Romblon Shipping Lines Inc.; Rapal Inter-island Shipping  (T# 872-5725); and the CSGA Ferry Corp.  (Check the Philippine Ports Authority Batangas Office for accurate departure schedules.)

For more on Sibuyan tourism, check out the Sibuyan Island Sentinels League for the Environment Inc. (http://www.sibuyan.com/tourism.html), which runs independent tours around the island.

(This piece was originally published in the BusinessMirror, June 24, 2013.)

DOT lists 78 tourism sites protected from mining

THE Department of Tourism has listed 78 "existing and emerging tourism development areas" that the Aquino administration will be protecting from mining activities.

According to the list obtained by InterAksyon.com, among the protected areas are islands with known fragile ecosystems like Batanes Island; Palawan (San Vicente-El Nido-Taytay, Puerto Princesa, Southern Palawan, Busuanga-Coron-Culion Islands); Boracay Island in Western Visayas; Bantayan Island and Malapascua in Central Visayas; Dinagat and Siargao Islands in Surigao del Norte; Camiguin Island in Cagayan de Oro; Samal Island in Davao; as well as Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, and Jolo in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

According to sources in the Department of Tourism, this was the same "list of TDAs (tourism development areas) which the DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources) was furnished to work on. As you can see, some are as big as regions, provinces, or as detailed as coastal areas, lakes or islands." (The rest in InterAksyon.com, July 9, 2012.)

Off-limits to mining (NTDP - List of Cluster Destinations and TDAs)

A reaction from Rhoda Poliquit

THIS is a reaction to an earlier item I wrote on Barry Poliquit, who has been found guilty by the Senate two years ago for his alleged involvement in the P728-million fertilizer fund scam (click Senate report here). It comes from his wife, Rhoda. We yield this space to her in the interest of fair play.

Hi, Stella...

Long time no see. It's been, what, 16 years? Somebody gave Barry a copy of your blog entry, and I thought I should send you a comment.

Some things have changed, and a lot of them haven't. The kids have grown - the eldest finished Computer Science at AMACU in 2005, the second, Biology at UPLB last April, while the youngest is a Statistics sophomore in UP Diliman. The girlfriends get more airtime than the mom does, haha, and I miss my babies on weekends.

We still live in the little house I got through a 15-year GSIS loan after I was appointed as Director at DAR in 1990. I have moved on to another specialization, though, on counter-terrorism, crisis management, contingency planning, border security, risk analysis and national security management. Not bad for a psych grad with a pre-med minor, huh?

Sorry about that, but we laughed ourselves silly this morning when we read the PDI article that focused more on Barry's PE degree than any of the other issues at yesterday's 6-hour Senate hearing. It's a long-standing joke in the family, with the kids using it as an excuse so they wouldn't have to follow my career choices for them. ("Bakit pa ko magpapakahirap sa engineering, eh si Dadz nga...")

The Barry you knew at DENR is still the same one you saw at the Senate hearing yesterday, except for the thicker waistline (which he hates) and bigger jowls (which is genetic, you should see his dad). He had good times with Doc Roque at DENR because he believed in the man's talent and sense of purpose. He left DENR in 1993 because of differences in principle with the bosses there, and worked for Congressman Edward Matti for a while. He applied for a job at NABCOR in 1997, was appointed AVP for project management, but also resigned three years later. He has always been like that - he just ups and goes when he doesn't feel happy with the job anymore.

So I wasn't surprised when he told me he was leaving DA because of the controversy on the farm inputs fund, even though he liked Field Operations and enjoyed working with the Regional Directors (from whom he learned a lot). He was relieved from Field Operations on September 1, 2004 and given a new assignment on the development of agribusiness lands.

Maybe the Senators found his answer unusual ("I left because I felt I wasn't going to be effective anymore"), since the stereotype government official "na may pwesto/poder" in their mind is "kapit-tuko" (from first-hand experience, perhaps???)

Even in GSIS, he considered resigning (despite the salary) because his first assignment was a desk job, and he felt like the proverbial square peg in a round hole. It was becoming more difficult to wake him up and send him out by 6:15 AM (we live in Batasan Hills) so he wouldn't be late. I'd lend him my driver every so often because his car got rear-ended one morning - he dozed at the wheel.

So the designation as VP for physical resources was a Godsend (bless you, Atty. Winston Garcia). It was like throwing a turtle into water. Now, he happily leaves the house at 5:45 AM to make a 7:00 AM meeting with the building engineers to walk through the renovations being done, and animatedly gives instructions to the maintenance supervisors at 10:30 PM at the height of a typhoon. It's a well-known story in GSIS that he cheerfully vacuumed the carpet on the 7th floor at 1:30 AM, working the graveyard shift side-by-side with the construction and interior decoration crews so they could meet the deadline for transferring Atty. Garcia's office. He really likes what he's doing.

He's still the same "kengkoy" person you knew from way back. He doesn't SCUBA dive anymore, but he still wears the diver's watch I gave him in 1989. His biggest frustration was not being able to join his old mountaineering buddies Art Valdez and Fred Jamili on the Everest Team - they started talking about climbing Everest that summer in 1984 after we all came down Mayon Volcano. The kids finally believed our mountaineering stories when we took them to dinner with Art, Fred, Leo, Pastour, Karina and Noelle.

Let's have coffee one of these days... my treat.

God bless always,

Rhoda

* * * *
I worked at the DA for three years, even before Barry ever joined the department, and have kept myself updated w/ the goings on there even after I left. I am aware of the farm programs that the department under its different administrations have implemented (some of them actually the same banana, under a new name reflecting whoever is the new President). But there has never been a more questionable DA program than said Farm Inputs and Implements Program of former U/Sec Joke-Joke Bolante. In fact, as the Senate report shows, there is no record at the central office that the program has ever existed.

So if Barry knows something, he should tell all.

Is anyone watching?

ARE any of you still watching the hearings in the House of Representatives (Impeachment complaint vs. GMA) and the Senate (starring Joke-Joke Bolante and the fertilizer fund scam)?

I gave up at the last House hearing where former Speaker Jose De Venecia was shooting his mouth off regarding the money allegedly distributed by the presidentita to the congressmen to shut them up in the last impeachment complaint.

I don't doubt that what JDV is saying is true, and even whatever else he is claiming to have happened in China while the presidentita, her husband and he were playing golf w/ ZTE executives. It's just that, too late na dava? Why only now JDV? Just bec. you were still Speaker, you kept quiet all the while your son Joey and Jun Lozada were being grilled over the barbeque pit on the ZTE Broadband issue? Tsk, tsk. How convenient.
* * * *
I did sneak a peek at this afternoon's hearing at the Senate. I was curious to find out Ibarra Poliquit's involvement in this fertilizer fund scam.

(Barry Poliquit is currently VP of physical resources of the GSIS.)

You see I knew an Ibarra/Barry Poliquit almost two decades ago when he was just a staff assistant at the office of Undersecretary Celso Roque at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Roque, a former UP professor, I thought ran a tight ship, and handled the environmental concerns of the department. So even in the late '80s, we were already talking and writing about global warming, and debt-for-nature swaps, etc. Our environmental officials were pretty much ahead of their time compared to their counterparts in the U.S., Japan, and Australia.

Going back to Barry Poliquit, I knew him when he was thinner and was one of the people whom I knew who was already into scuba diving even before it became a rage in the Philippines. He was married to Rhoda Poliquit, who worked in the Dept. of Agrarian Reform then. He also struck me as one of those guys in the DENR who knew his stuff and was willing to share good environmental stories with us reporters.

In my 23-year-old mind, Barry didn't look like someone who would engage in nefarious activities involving gov't funds. Even though he was much older than I, he appeared as someone who still retained his youthful idealism despite the corruption in most government offices.

After I left the beat, I lost touch w/ Barry and his wife, and only heard of him again during the reopened Senate investigation on the fertilizer fund scam. According to the media reports, he was assistant secretary at the Dept. of Agriculture and had helped Joke-Joke Bolante, then Usec, oversee the implementation of the fertilizer fund program. Today he was being grilled on his apparent inadequate monitoring of the program w/c led to the purchases of overpriced fertilizer by their field office.

I wonder what happened to Barry. What changed? Did the corruption eventually get to him? Did it become an "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" type of situation for him? Or did I just read him all wrong when he was still at DENR?
* * * *
After googling Dr. Celso Roque to find out what had become of him, I found out that he had passed away on June 30, 2002. Dr. Roque, who was such a masterful storyteller (he always had entertaining stories for us reporters), usually held court at Trellis, the original purveyor of sisig in the metro.

Among the DENR officials of his time, he was really the coolest cat. I could listen to him make kwento for hours, and learned a lot about enviromental issues from him. He is remembered as having pioneered the environmental movement in the Philippines. I raise a glass of wine in his memory.

Clean coal is an oxymoron, says NBC

LISTEN up DENR! There is no such thing as clean coal. You cannot burn coal and expect clean smoke. But there is a way to capture all that dirty emissions.

Watch.