The re-opening of Boracay Island to tourists and the distribution of so-called “love letters” by the Department of Tourism (DOT) to several tourism destinations in the Visayas and Mindanao, including Oslob town in southern Cebu, highlighted anew the ever constant need for daily vigilance by all stakeholders in protecting the environment.
A dry run opening of Boracay Island on Oct. 15 showed that old habits die hard among tourists who littered the island’s shores with used plastic and other garbage based on photos posted on social media.
With an inter-agency task force headed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on hand to monitor the compliance of tourists in proper garbage disposal, it is hoped especially among those who list Boracay in the top of their travel itineraries that the island will eventually recover from the bane of pollution caused by its visitors and its investors.
That same concern and vigilance should also be applied to Oslob town in southern Cebu which had profited nicely from the influx of tourists for its whale-watching attraction.
The DOT letter which called on local officials and the community to institute measures aimed at protecting the whale sharks and the marine and coastal ecosystems that support these creatures and the community that makes a livelihood from them set a December 2018 deadline for its implementation.
And one key feature which should serve as a useful parameter for all of the country’s tourist destinations is a cap or limit on the number of tourist arrivals in Oslob from 1,000 to 500.
This limit is crucial if the Oslob municipal government and its constituents are to maximize their efforts in preserving and protecting the waters and the coastal environment that sustains their livelihood.
Local officials in Boracay along with its investors may have overlooked the obvious, glaring fact that their so-called success in drawing heavy tourist traffic also led to its eventual closure by President Rodrigo Duterte who described Boracay as a “cesspool.”
While more visitors mean more revenue for the host local governments, the likelihood of their full compliance to proper garbage disposal requirements and other laws meant to protect the environment — and in Oslob’s case, to protect whale sharks from unwanted attention by overeager tourists wishing to take photos with them — remain iffy and uncertain with limited personnel to monitor and enforce compliance from visitors.
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