PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan — Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said her department will be making frequent “surprise visits” to El Nido to ensure the municipal government will seriously implement sustainable tourism policies.
“I will come back here very often, it will be a surprise, it will be unannounced,” she said here Wednesday afternoon.
Puyat, who was in El Nido for a site inspection with Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año, said that overall, they were pleased with how the local government addressed their earlier concerns.
She said Mayor Nieves Rosento’s leadership has been “very stern” in making sure the clean-up drive on the easement zone was done without being told about it.
In Barangays Masagana, Buena Suerte, Maligaya, and Corong-Corong fronting Bacuit Bay, the clampdown has been successful in the past months. Out of 32 structures on the easement zone, only one remains so far.
In Corong-Corong, 70 structures of business establishments and households have been demolished with eight others still undergoing tear down.
“I was here last September, and nakita namin marami ng changes (we saw there has been a lot of changes). The local government has been very responsive… We noticed in the report that they showed that they were able to address,” Puyat told the Philippine News Agency (PNA).
She said Rosento and municipal officials were able to address the cleanliness and overcrowding problems in the lagoons, which were her “main concern.”
Puyat said the problem of tourists who were throwing garbage into the sea had already been addressed after she voiced out her apprehension to the local government unit (LGU) during her previous visit.
“My main complaint was the lagoons, they looked unclean, and then I wanted to reduce the entry of tour boats and tourists inside the lagoons… the throwing of garbage materials, etcetera… they are addressing it now,” she said.
She said they also wanted to see the strict implementation of the no smoking and grilling, as well as no drinking on the beach fronting Bacuit Bay.
Puyat said the municipal government has to ensure that its ordinance against bringing plastic bottles in island hopping tours is imposed to prevent polluting the bay.
“We want to see these things happening to keep the beach clean from the debris that would come from these activities,” she added.
