Yeah, so now they start moving their fat asses. The Philippine government is now supposedly “bent on saving the island paradise of Boracay,” saying that “climate change and unchecked development threatens to destroy” it.
You don’t say.
What do we do next after that major government brainwave? Appoint a ‘Save Boracay Czar’?
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Thing with troubleshooters, fixers, and cleaners is that they always come out the “heroes”. Pretty convenient. And so, here is President BS Aquino heroically swooping in to put everyone on Red Alert…
President Aquino has also sounded the alarm on possible loss of Philippine beaches due to the effects of climate change. In a speech to the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) – ASEAN International Conference on Tourism and Climate Change, Aquino pointed out that Philippine tourist destinations are at risk from the effects of climate change.
“It is true: We have some of the best beaches and dive spots in the world. Sadly, these areas are also the ones most vulnerable to climate risk–whether in the form of loss of biodiversity or coastal erosion. Our immediate response: To plan ahead and reduce the impact of the effects of climate change on our tourist destinations, among others,” he said.
Lame.
All that sounding off does is alert us to that all-so-familiarly mediocre way Filipinos have traditionally managed their priceless resources.
So now we’re stuck with some sort of “engineering intervention” being cooked up by Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez to “save Boracay”. Pretty convenient. So after all the taxes have been collected from the big developers who defaced this excellent beach and all the grease money has been skimmed off the unofficial “fees” paid to local and national officials to break ground there, the Filipino taxpayer has to fork out more money for this “engineering intervention”??
Why not slap a levy on these crooked developers instead? That’ll teach them to mess with what was once “the best beach in the world”.
For that matter, we need not look too far to see the unsightly products of “engineering interventions”…
Then again, expecting our bright boys in the government to get the lesson in the above photo is asking a bit too much.
Frustrated artist doing geek for a living.
You want to save Boracay? Close the island to all visitors for 10 years and clean up the tons of garbage that are hidden behind the false façade of luxury Hotels.
One more thing. Boracay was pretty fine environmentally until Filipinos went there by the hundred thousands. It is in fact the local tourism that fucked things up. Same goes for Puerto Galera.
Agree. It’s the Filipinos who destroyed Boracay, first as public stakeholders who have no clue in developing & managing a destination sustainably; second, as visitors, who go to Boracay to “party” as opposed to foreign tourists who go to the beaches to have a supposedly quiet and relaxing holiday but are pestered by vendors and touters!
If there’s one thing that I observe with the Pinoys – what’s up with the “groto” thing? I mean it seems every beautiful natural habitat they can’t resist putting-up the ugly “groto”?
It’s to bring luck to one’s business :-S
Couldn’t they just leave the natural natural? I mean why put-up an obscene/distasteful and obviously man made fake-ass craps in the middle of beautiful natural environment that sticks like a fcukin sore thumb?
If they really wanted to have saved Borocay, then you are going to have to go back 20 years, when it was a paradise and had all the things that attracted tourists. Just to be clear, hundreds of sari-sari stores selling identical plastic junk, and being pestered every five minutes while trying to relax on the beach is NOT the way to go. Borocay has been turned to tat. Over development has destroyed the magic it once possessed. If money is going to be spent, then use on a real paradise and not this new monument to greedy developers. If the Philippines does not recognise this, then you need a new department of tourism that will safeguard the jewels you still have remaining.
If everything was planned and regulated from the start any problems that did arise further down the road would be easy to manage and repair.
Given the systematic levels of corruption in your country everyone turns a blind eye until it is to late.
Sadly to say Boracay has been a disaster in the making for years. Now corrupt government officials are now going to go up against corrupt business owners to clean the island up.
Good Luck
I’d rather go to Palawan/Bohol instead of Boracay. A highly congested place resulted in higher quantities of trash and too much infrastructure to say the least. I missed the times when Boracay didn’t have too many people littering around and I can enjoy a peaceful sleep along the shores at the same time.
Squatters area beside the ocean. A real disgrace and testament to local environmental management….
“Our immediate response: To plan ahead and reduce the impact of the effects of climate change on our tourist destinations, among others, he said.” PLAN the operative word. Of course, the President had to SAY something about “tourism & climate change.” That’s why he has an Advertising guy as DOT Secretary. But then again, that’s just all talk. ACTION is another story. And we can all wait for Kingdom come till they DO something. Or another Yolanda and it’s too late.
Just blame the west for climate change because we don’t contribute to that through our own excellent environmental policies right?