What’s next for Boracay Island?

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

Malay, Aklan town mayor Frolibar Bautista on Thursday night admitted that they have a tough challenge ahead of them, as they start to take over the overall management of Boracay Island after four years of the national government’s oversight on the country’s tourism gem.

Bautista said that there were some projects that remained unimplemented and unfinished as of this time, rendering them worried about the “big responsibility ahead of them.”

He said the priority is to maintain the cleanliness of the island’s waters, citing the 200 square-meter land they donated for the water testing laboratory of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB).

“It is a big challenge for us, since the responsibility is being delegated to the [Malay] LGU, especially in the implementation [of the Boracay Action Plan] because there are some areas which are left unfinished in implementation,” he said.

Bautista recognized that there was a problem with governance, stating that they would continue the “convergence” implemented by the outgoing Boracay Inter-Agency Task Force (BIATF) with all stakeholders.

“All stakeholders should be enjoined to help each other out, not only the LGU, but on a convergence approach where we can discuss steps. We cannot do it solo. If we do it solo, and one doesn’t follow, then it will be chaos,” he said.

He said that he was open to the possibility that the BIATF would be continued by the next administration, citing the P25-billion funding requirements to complete the rehabilitation and continue maintenance of the island.

“We’ve seen the results of what [the BIATF] did, so if continuity is needed, that would not be a problem. We want that actually, because in the Boracay Action Plan, we need P25 billion in funding requirements for the necessary infrastructure in the island, and the municipal and provincial governments cannot carry that, so we still need the support of the national government,” he stated.

Bautista also mentioned that the drainage system will remain operated by the Boracay Island Water Corp citing an agreement with the Tourism Infrastructure and Economic Zones Authority.

Bautista and other local and national government officials remarked during the BIATF culminating program last Thursday that tourist arrivals were already reaching pre-rehabilitation levels, but he failed to cite exact figures.

The mayor said that they intend to keep the cap of arriving travelers at 6,000 per day.

The island’s current daily carrying capacity is at 19,215 according to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

Despite the BIATF’s turnover of the island to the Malay local government, the DENR will continue monitoring compliance with national laws and local ordinances on environmental practices and standards that are being implemented.