By Perla Lena/PNA
ILOILO CITY — Boracay Island, Western Visayas’ gem, famous for its powdery white sand and pristine water, is back in shape after its much-publicized closure and six-month rehabilitation.
Back in February, President Rodrigo Duterte called Boracay Island a cesspool. Two months after, he ordered its closure for six months.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) was the lead agency of the task force created to oversee its rehabilitation aided by the Department of Tourism (DOT) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
In October, prior to the reopening of the island, Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu declared that Boracay’s waters, particularly at the White Beach, are safe for swimming.
“We declare now that Boracay Island is no longer a cesspool, but an island whose body of water surrounding it has passed the standard fit for swimming,” Cimatu said during the October “Salubungan” when the island was first opened to Aklanons.
The water quality monitoring of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) showed the coliform level at the White Beach just within 3 MPN (most probable number) per 100 millimeters. The standard is 100 MPN.
The people of Aklan led by Acting Mayor Abram Sualog commended the changes.
“A lot has changed, big changes happened. First, our beaches are cleaner. We now have a bigger road. It’s a big help for the local government unit that the national government entered to help us solve our problems, especially on infrastructure,” he said.
Infrastructure
Engineer Al Fruto, assistant regional director of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) 6 (Western Visayas), said before the year ends, a substantial accomplishment will be visible in terms of the implementation of their PHP540-million projects.
He said the “modest contribution” of their department is the rehabilitation of major roads, particularly the gaps in the circumferential road.
“Initially, what we did was to rehabilitate and upgrade the first 4.12 km. from Cagban Port passing the Rotonda to the main road and will terminate before the plaza of Barangay Balabag,” he said. The circumferential road stretches to about 20 km.
The project also covers Bulabog road of almost 500 meters that serves as an alternative route going to Mt. Luho and Barangay Yapak.
Not only did DPWH complete the gaps, it also widened the road from the width of 8 to 12 meters.
Fruto said there are “well-meaning friends” who helped pro bono and established a design that would complement the overall concept of really rehabilitating the island.
They also tapped the services of consultants, who helped rehabilitate Iloilo City and suburban areas, such as the group of architect Paulo Alcazaren.
“We consulted landscape architects to come up with an ideal concept of designing a road complete with the furniture of a road such as pedestrians, sidewalks, tree planting, pavement marking, signages,” Fruto said.
The PHP540 million is “just really the tip of the iceberg,” he said, adding their office has “totally committed to help in the rehab of the island.”
“Actually, what we planned a year before the pronouncement of the President of Boracay being a cesspool. We have interventions that we have started,” he said.
He added the closure gave them the “opportunity to implement the plan that we have worked on.”
The regional director said that they have a PHP1.7-billion action plan to fully rehabilitate and improve the main road of Boracay.
“The success of the interventions of the government anchors on infrastructure support. We really look at all major roads of the island will be walkable. There will be traffic regulations, such that there are defined paths, loading and unloading areas,” he emphasized.
The DPWH is designing roads with a wider space for pedestrians. “From what we have experienced in Iloilo City, it is possible if we can provide the proper infrastructure, so it becomes friendly to pedestrians,” he said.
As part of infrastructure support, the Department of Energy (DOE) committed for at least 200 units of electric tricycles for Boracay as part of its vision to ensure the sustainability of the electric vehicles program.
The local government of Malay is eyeing to phase out all diesel-powered tricycles on the island and replace them with e-trikes and other electric-powered vehicles.
The Boracay Interagency Task for Rehabilitation will also put up 16 designated stops for passenger vehicles along the main road.
Resorts and hotels with transport services will also be required to have Euro-4 compliant vehicles.
Resorts and establishments
The closure of Boracay Island resulted in the issuance of 487 notices of violations to non-compliant establishments by the EMB.
Non-compliant establishments are slapped with fines ranging from PHP60,000 to PHP80,000 upon determination by the Pollution Adjudication Board (PAB).
Among the prominent infractions are violations of the Philippine Clean Water Act, Philippine Clean Air Act and for operating without an environmental compliance certificate (ECC).
They are also mandated to comply with the requirements before they can again engage in business. DENR Memorandum Circular No. 2018-06 mandates that establishments with 50 rooms and above are required to have their own sewage treatment plant (STP) while those with 49 rooms and below, to have clustered STP.
As of December 14, the DENR-DILG and DOT already accredited 279 establishments accounting for 9,868 rooms.
Daily, 6,405 tourists are allowed to enter Boracay, but 19,000 tourists are allowed to stay.
Micro, small and medium entrepreneurs
One of the sectors hit by the closure were the micro, small and medium enterprises.
Ma. Carmen Iturralde, director of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in Aklan, said the sales of the MSMEs in the province were affected because “most of them supply goods to Boracay.”
In support, they were provided with marketing assistance through local, regional and national trade fairs that earned for them close to PHP25 million in sales. The “Bagong Buhay Boracay” store also generated more than PHP800,000.
The Small Business Corp. attached to the DTI also released more than PHP2 million in loans under the “Pondo sa Pagbabago at Pag-asenso (P3)”.
Their displaced workers were also provided with starter kits after attending their preferred skills training. As of October, more than one-half of the 215 beneficiaries received their starter kits under the local livelihood seeding program (LSP).
Some 67 training courses on entrepreneurship and financial literacy were also conducted, benefitting 7,500 participants.
Iturralde said that if there is one thing good about the closure, MSMEs were able to look for other markets. “It also opened opportunities for them. There are other markets for their trade,” she said.
In fact, one entrepreneur expert on Information Technology developed an online marketing platform known as “oneAklan”.
Products of MSMEs can be seen in the application available in Android phones (Google playstore) and IOS (Apple store). It is also integrated with the social media because it has its own Facebook account. Currently, 38 MSMEs in the province are using the platform.
The first-ever homegrown online selling was developed by Selah Studio owned by Aklanon Heinz Z. Militar, a recipient of the DTI’s “Kapatid Mentor Me” Program.
Assistance for displaced workers
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) was quick to come up with a package of interventions to mitigate the impact of the closure.
DOLE 6 Director Cyril Ticao said that as of the end of November, the department has disbursed PHP48.63 million for various projects they have implemented in the island.
Through the “Tulong Panghanapbuhay Para sa Ating Displaced/Disadvantaged Workers”, DOLE engaged 5,005 workers.
The Boracay Emergency Employment Program Adjustment Measures Program (BEEP AMP) offered a comprehensive package of assistance to formal sector workers. Under this program, displaced, suspended, and retained workers were provided financial assistance of 50 percent of the prevailing minimum wage in Western Visayas or equivalent to PHP4,205.50 per month.
Ticao said as of November 30, DOLE received 32,308 applications and 17,264 were already processed. DOLE has disbursed PHP382.23 million for their financial support.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development Office (DSWD) 6 focused on assisting individuals in crisis situations (AICS), cash-for-work program, livelihood assistance, and relief operations.
Through AICS, financial assistance were provided to beneficiaries for the payment of their transportation expenses to affected workers, as well as medical, educational, and burial assistance, as well as food.
As of December 10, DSWD spent PHP43.97 million for the 18, 077 beneficiaries served through AICS program.
Meanwhile, the cash-for-work program served 5,933 beneficiaries and spent PHP57.57 million for their salaries. The program assisted residents and non-residents (workers) to gain income and at the same time attend to the needs in rehabilitating the island, such as the conduct of a clean-up drive, wetland clean up, mangrove planting, communal gardening, underwater clean-up, canal dredging, vegetative fencing, garbage collection, and cleaning of debris.
Livelihood assistance was also provided to some 10,596 displaced workers from the informal sector through the provision of grants for alternative income-generating activities, such as engaging in micro-enterprises or employment. The department has spent PHP158.94 million for their livelihood.
DSWD assured that it will sustain the gains of rehabilitation efforts and improve social protection mechanisms for vulnerable sectors in the coming months.
The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) 6 has diverted its priority to Boracay Island in terms of providing multiple higher-level skills.
Through the Special Training for Employment Program (STEP), the department provided opportunities for the beneficiaries, displaced workers or residents of the island, to acquire skills training to upgrade their competencies for higher paying jobs.
During the six-month closure, covering the period of April 26 until September 15, a total of 2,903 enrolled in these training courses and 1,981 of them completed the courses. The department disbursed more than PHP40 million for their training.
When the island opened last October 26, another batch of 200 trainees was again enrolled and 143 of them already completed their training while the remaining is ongoing and expected to be completed by December 31.
The department allotted PHP3.7 million for the complete training package of the beneficiaries.
Support for vulnerable groups (IPs, women)
Duterte, true to his commitment, distributed land titles to the Indigenous Peoples (Ati) on the island through the Agrarian Reform Program.
A total of 623 Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOA), consisting of 274.0352 hectares of land under the Agrarian Reform Program, were distributed to 484 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) from Boracay and other areas in mainland Aklan on November 8.
Six CLOAs went to members of the Boracay Ati Tribal Organization (BATO) composed of 45 families covering 3.2064 hectares.
The 3.2 hectares of land in Barangay Manocmanoc is part of the 7.9 hectares of land originally turned over by the DENR to the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).
At least 31 families from the Tumandok tribe of Boracay also received their CLOAs.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) has chosen the Ati community and the 35-member Boracay Women Producers Cooperative as recipients of their interventions.
Vic Nabor, executive assistant to the Regional Executive Director, said two greenhouses were established at the Ati Village and Boracay Women Producers Cooperative. “These greenhouses use soil-less and hydrophonics technology to produce high-value vegetables. Along with the greenhouses is the conduct of training for soilless culture and the operation of the greenhouses,” he said.
An Organic Urban Garden was established at the Ati Community Learning Center Compound in Boracay.
They were provided with training courses in partnership with the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI), the training arm of DA. These include food/product processing, such as fruit jellies, vegetable patties, salad and juices, to be made available at their proposed Boracay Ati Fresh Garden.
The Boracay Women Producers Cooperative trained on rice by-product processing, packaging, and marketing as a livelihood support.
As support continues to pour in, the task force also looked into the lapses of local government unit officials in Aklan.
Charges were filed against 17 officials in Aklan before the Office of the Ombudsman for alleged violation of the Local Government Code and Republic Act No. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corruption Practices Act.
A day before the opening, the Office of the Ombudsman handed a preventive suspension order to Malay town Mayor Ceciron Cawaling for alleged neglect of duty, which resulted in the degradation of Boracay’s environment.
Sualog served as acting mayor of the town.
While Boracay is now open to the public, rehabilitation efforts will continue.
A marine biodiversity assessment is going on with the assistance of the Boracay Business Administration of Scuba Shops BBASS, a group of drivers and scuba shop operators in the island. The biodiversity assessment will be necessary for the rehabilitation of Boracay’s coastal and marine areas.
A memorandum of agreement between the DENR led by Cimatu and BBASS was signed on October 15.
BBASS will also assist the DENR in policing the coastal areas of the island and in the information, education, and communication campaign.
Acting Mayor Sualog said they are now focused and working together with the task force to implement the policies that were set for the island, such as the control of visitors and regulation of activities on the beach front.
He added that they are now helping the task force to ensure that all businesses are compliant.
“We are hoping that all will be compliant soon,” he said, adding that he has already requested the task force to set up a one-stop shop again in Boracay to help the business sector comply with their requirements. (With reports from Annabel J. Petinglay, Cindy B. Ferrer and Karen Bermejo)
