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BUY LUIS BUENAFLOR JR.
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February 16, 2018
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WHAT’S happening or has happened to Boracay comes as a no surprise. It is inevitable, and the islanders have no one to blame but themselves.
From a once idyllic island paradise with pristine white sand beaches some 50 years ago, it has morphed into a fusion of South Beach in Florida and Ibiza in Spain, including all the trappings of urbanization.
Of course, with the changes and development come the inevitable trappings of progress i.e. garbage, pollution and other environmental issues. And this is not an acceptable price to pay for progress. With proper sustainable practices all these environmental issues can be properly controlled and managed.
The last time moi was in Boracay, the situation environment-wise was not good. But it was not that bad. Just a couple of months ago after tropical storm “Urduja” paid the island a visit, the iconic D’Mall looked like España Street in Manila after your usual heavy rains while an estimated 90 percent of the roads in Boracay were submerged in floodwaters.
Boracay is still one of the best beaches in the world but not for long as it seems to be developing as one of the world’s worst cesspools.
The column’s title is just artistic parlance but definitely Boracay is on borrowed time.
Here are excerpts from the Feb. 11 issue of Panay News:
Duterte warns of ‘closing’ Boracay
President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to close popular tourist attraction Boracay if ever its environmental issues will not be resolved in six months.
In a speech during the Manila Times’ Business Forum in Davao City on Friday, Duterte has tasked Environment secretary Roy Cimatu to fix the sewerage problem in the world-renowned island.
“I will close Boracay. Boracay is a cesspool,” the President said. “If you go into the water, it’s smelly. Smell of what? Shit. Kasi lahat nandoon, ang palabas nila, sa Boracay…”
Duterte added, “It’s destroying the environment or the Republic of the Philippines and creating a disaster coming. During the days when I was there, ‘yung basura was just 20 meters away from the beach pero iba na ngayon.”
“If the sewerage and sanitation issues will not be resolved, there will be a time that no more foreigners will go there because he will have – when he goes back to the plane to where he belongs, he will be full of shit going back and forth to the restroom,” Duterte said.
Harsh words but definitely true, sending magnitude 10 shockwaves all over the island and making all those exploiting that “milking cow” called Boracay squirm in their drawers.
It’s Duterte after all who said itm not that nincompoop Noynoy Aquino. And the chances that he will do it are far higher than Noynoy Aquino fulfilling a campaign promise having himself run over by a train if the Cavite MRT line is not up and running.
Of course, much to the disappointment of the natives Noynoy Aquino never had himself run over by a train.
And from the Feb. 10 Agence France-Presse article:
Duterte slams Boracay as ‘cesspool,’ threatens to shut down island
The famous white-sand island destination Boracay is drowning in feces and may need to be shut down to protect the health of millions of visitors, President Rodrigo Duterte has warned.
The fiery leader gave his brutal assessment of the country’s top tourist draw as he told hotels, restaurants and other businesses on the tiny central island to clean up or he would ban tourism there.
“I will close Boracay. Boracay is a cesspool,” Duterte told a business forum in his southern home city of Davao late Friday, according to an official transcript released by the presidential palace Saturday.
“You go into the water, it’s smelly. Smell of what? Sh**. Because it all comes out in Boracay,” he said.
Red-faced tourism department officials affirmed Duterte’s assessment on Saturday, saying it reflected worsening sewage conditions on an island known globally for its pristine white sands and crystal clear waters.
“It’s a shame that Boracay, which has repeatedly been recognized by prestigious travel magazines as the world’s most beautiful island, may yet end up a paradise lost if water contamination continues,” Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo said in a statement.
Department spokesman Ricky Alegre said a number of establishments drained their sewage directly into the sea.
“There are certain areas there (where) . . . some establishments have illegally tapped their sewage line into the water line,” Alegre told AFP.
Of the 150 Boracay business establishments recently inspected by the government, only 25 were connected to the sewage line, he said.
Duterte warned the situation was a looming environmental “disaster” and a “tragedy” that could soon drive visitors away from the island.
He said he had ordered Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu to clean up Boracay or else.
“I’ll give you six months. Clean the goddamn thing,” he said he had told Cimatu.
And the truth hurts; 99.9 percent of the people in Boracay were never really concerned about the island’s fragile environment; all they cared was how much profit they will make.
In the end GREED and SHIT destroyed Boracay. (brotherlouie16@gmail.com/PN)
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