BORACAY ISLAND, Malay, Aklan—For days, Charm (not her real name) was dreading this meeting. She is one of the waitstaff assigned to this posh resort, and the manager just called all the contractual workers to a conference. Because she technically works for a hotel staffing company and not the resort itself, she and 20 others in similar contractual positions would be the first to be let go by the resort. At this meeting, the resort manager, she could tell, was also hard-pressed to explain what the establishment had to do while the island was closed for six months.
“I saw he was trying to be positive even as he had to explain the situation of the resort; all of us are affected by Boracay’s closure,” says Charm, 24, a native of Iloilo, speaking in her native language. “We come from all over, and became friends here, so it hurts a little, because we’ve been through a lot.” Less than a year into her job at the resort’s food outlet, Charm says she’d have to go back to Iloilo, but didn’t know where she would be assigned next.
At said meeting, the workers were feted with a small going-away feast, and given some mementos of their stay in a ditty bag. The resort manager, Jimbo (not his real name) avers, “We promised them that once Boracay reopens, we would hire them back.” Of course, by then, he realizes, these contractuals would have probably found some other jobs or gone abroad. “We would have to find new people again, and train them again. It’s not that easy,” he points out.
One of the veteran hoteliers on Boracay, Dionisio Salme, 69, is founder and proprietor of Jony’s Beach Resort along Station 1, which he had set up in 1986, on a little piece of property given to him by his former boss, Fred Elizalde.
Still looking quite youthful despite his advanced years, the lines of worry were now evident on Mang Diony’s face. At the government-led workshop conference with stakeholders of the island on April 17, he patiently listened to all the government agencies roll out their plans and programs for the workers on the island. Yet at times, he could not hide the look of incredulity over the information (or the lack of it) being disseminated by the government executives.
“We can’t do anything about it,” he tells the BusinessMirror, in Filipino. “They [the government] want to close Boracay, so we just have to follow it.” Mang Diony says he, too, had been tagged for some easement violations, but stresses he is willing to comply with the government’s recommendations on how to address these. Fortunately, the violations are not too many, and mainly affect his restaurant, the popular Mexican cuisine-themed Maya’s Boracay. “About 1.5 meters will have to be removed at the restaurant for the road widening,” he says. This would effectively mean losing the two dining booths, which seats four to five persons per table. At the beachfront, the resort is no longer allowed to put out their beach beds.
Of his workers, he notes that many of them have been with the resort and restaurant for quite some time. But he will have to let go of some while the island is closed from April 26 to October 26. “Some will go on forced leaves, while the others will have to go home to their own towns. I assured them it was okay for them to look for other jobs in the meantime. But I told them, once we reopen, we will absorb all of them.”
Teddy Lim, vice president for marketing of Microtel Inns and Suites (Pilipinas) Inc., is pragmatic in his approach to the problem of Boracay’s closure. “Definitely, we [Microtel Boracay] won’t make a profit this year,” with the island closed to tourists for 180 days. So renovations are in order for the next few months, he said: The resort will be repainted, tiles will be changed, tears in furnishings replaced, etc.
He had attended the Boracay workshop conference for stakeholders, as well, and expressed pure amazement over the lack of clear guidelines on how the government would be implementing the island’s closure. “Personally, I’ve seen the need for the island to be closed. We’re doing this for the next generation. But give us better guidelines. For instance, I had to ask the task force, are we allowed to renovate? They said yes, fortunately.”
In a recent interview with the BusinessMirror, Tourism Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Frederick M. Alegre confirmed that establishments on Boracay would be allowed to make light renovations on their property, and bring in the necessary people to accomplish these tasks. (See, “Resorts in Boracay allowed to renovate during closure time,” in the BusinessMirror, April 20, 2018.)
Lim says he recently met with the hotel’s workers, however, and gave them the lowdown on what would happen during the closure: “I told them not to bank on any form of assistance from the government,” he seethed, still remembering the inadequate presentation of some government agencies during the workshop conference.
But he adds, he will likely recommend to the Microtel head office “to convert some sick leaves and vacation leaves to paid leaves,” while the hotel, and the island remains closed to tourists. As he is disinclined to lay off their workers, the hotel executive says he will also recommend that the hotel go on a three-day work week, instead of the usual six-day work period.
Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III had recently warned establishments on Boracay from retrenching workers, which have not pleased business owners who will have to write off the next six months as a no-income period.
Yet, Presidential Spokesman Harry L. Roque Jr. clarified in a recent news conference on the island, “I think the rule on no-work, no-pay should still apply, but security of tenure should not be affected. So as soon as the island reopens, they [the workers] should be accepted.”
He stressed, “Obviously the no-work, no-pay is not the fault of the employer. It’s a state action [island’s closure]. So the workers can’t complain ‘no’? But that’s why the government has undertaken to provide alternative employment for the displaced workers.”
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has said, however, it could only provide emergency employment assistance to some 5,000 of the displaced workers, which are estimated to reach 36,000, including those in the informal sector.
For her part, Charm says she’s filled out forms for what appears to be part of DOLE’s workers’ profiling effort. “But I’m not counting on their aid, or anything. I’ll just go home to Iloilo, rest a little, then wait for a new assignment.” Her boss, Jimbo, adds that other workers have said “they would go for some training courses with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.”
Charm admits she is lucky than most; at least she and her work colleagues have alternatives they could pursue. “What about the massage therapists? Or the vendor selling shades or hats?” she wonders.