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BY HERBERT VEGO
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TWO years ago in this corner, I asked this question: “Is there no Filipino capable of saving Boracay?”
The big news in the country’s top tourist destination at that time was about American actor Leonardio DiCaprio allegedly interested in buying 17 hectares of Boracay forestland for preservation purposes. A local community known as Last Stand for Paradise (LSP) had asked DiCaprio to step into the picture before a Taiwanese developer – who had allegedly offered to buy the forest land for P1.7 billion – could convert it into a commercial hub. The LSP feared that when so developed, it would further cause environmental destruction.
As to why LSP had picked an American actor instead of a high Philippine government official for help, the environmental group cited then President Benigno Simeon Aquino’s “failure” to lend them an ear.
Two years have passed, but neither DiCaprio nor the Taiwanese has shown up. Meanwhile, hundreds more of hotels and other high-rise buildings have sprouted, aggravating the pollution and population problems.
Going back to the above-quoted question on who could save Boracay, there seems to be an answer in the person of a world-renowned urban planner, architect Felino “Jun” Palafox Jr., who had reportedly inked a memorandum of agreement with Malay mayor Ciceron Cawaling of Malay to formulate a master development plan for Boracay within seven months.
It is beyond this columnist to guess how Palafox would alter the island’s landscape without blasting to pieces the concrete structures that have restricted the free flow of vehicular traffic. Some of the roads are so narrow that it’s impossible for four-wheel vehicles moving from opposite directions to pass through.
For sure, legal problems would arise the moment the local government moves to “slice” the commercial establishments to widen the road network, since they could not have mushroomed without government-issued permits.
Unfortunately, the previous mayors and Sangguniang Bayan of Malay (of which Boracay is an island barangay) had not lifted a finger to regulate the construction of new buildings. It was as if their good fortune hinges on their leniency to hoteliers, restaurateurs and merchants in Boracay.
There was a time when no less than pambansang kamao Manny Pacquiao – using a certain Kris Aquino (male, not the actress) as dummy – put up a luxurious hotel, Boracay West Cove, that jutted out on natural coral reefs like a sore thumb. It was constructed at a time when one of Manny’s many friends in government, Lito Atienza, was the secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
So cocksure was Kris of his boss’ “right connection” that he bragged before the TV show “Failon Ngayon” that he could construct anything in Boracay without securing building and business permits.
As nature tripper, I can’t help but long for the Boracay that Danny Fajardo and I set foot on for the first time in the year 1982. There was not a concrete building; all that lined up the beach were bamboo-and-nipa cottages. We rented one for twenty-five pesos overnight.
The room boy briefed us on our own amenities: a wood-fueled parilla on which to broil fish, a box of match and a kerosene lamp. There was no electricity all over the island yet.
While resting in the cottage, we saw a group of native fishermen pushing their small boat ashore. We strolled over for whatever fish they had caught. We offered to buy a plate of still-jumping galunggong. Without haggling for a lower price, we paid them what they wanted: five pesos! That solved our lunch and dinner problems.
Today, I lament that the island is no longer friendly to poor Juan dela Cruz, whose one thousand pesos would not suffice to cover the cost of an overnight stay at the cheapest hotel. (hvego31@gmail.com /PN)
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