Malapascua Island is well maintained – stakeholders

SUMILON SAND BAR: The sand bar of Sumilon island will be closed for a week by the LGU of Oslob for its rehabilitation and clean-up. CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO

Stakeholders of the renowned Malapascua Island, an island off Daanbantayan town in northern Cebu remain confident that the area is well maintained and does not need any rehabilitation.

Malapascua is famous for its at least 21 diving spots and its thresher sharks.

Matt Reed, a British technical diver and a resident of the island, said they are helping the local government unit (LGU) in Daanbantayan to address the garbage problem.

“I think, it is fair to say that none of the businesses in Malapascua or the employees want to have the island closed to tourists,” Reed said in an email addressed to Mayor Vicente Loot.

He shared the project called “Debris Free Thursday” initiated by a non-government organization, whose members collect garbage left in public areas on the island once a week.

“The business sector has been working already for years together with the LGU to remove all tourist and business garbage from the island, and is a successful venture,” he added.

Mayor Loot said in a previous interview that there is no need to close the island for rehabilitation, unlike Sumilon Island, off Oslob town where they will close a portion of the island for a week-long clean up drive, starting today (Tuesday).

“Why fix when it’s not broken? Damage is a requisite for fixing and rehabilitating,” he said in a text message.

He said he held regular meetings with the resort owners and other businessmen on the island to remind them of the importance of protecting the environment.

“I warned them that I don’t want Malapascua to end up as another Boracay, which, for me, is an environmental time bomb waiting to explode,” Loot said.

The local government installed a satellite office on Malapascua Island, composed of teams from the Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office (Menro), Tourism Office, Bantay Dagat and the Philippine National Police (PNP), to ensure that environmental laws are observed.

Reed meanwhile said a company will set up office on the island next month which would recycle plastic.

“This project will encourage locals to see the value in garbage and to collect it and recycle it for better use rather than to discard it,” he said.

Sumilon Island

Meanwhile, about 50 volunteers will start work in rehabilitating the sandbar and snorkeling site at Sumilon Island today.

Oslob Tourism Officer Elizabeth Benologa said these volunteers will collect the trash especially underwater, left by the tourists who came during the Holy Week.

She also said marine biologists from the Large Marine Vertebrates Research Institute Philippines (LAMAVE) in Oslob, who are also monitoring the whale sharks, will assess the condition of the marine life surrounding the island.

Provincial Tourism Officer (PTO) Head Joselito “Boboi” Costas said local officials should reduce by half, the number of tourists allowed on the sandbar to avoid overcrowding, which he said would only result to more trash, damaged corals and would change the quality of the seawater.