TOURISM stakeholders are once again questioning the plans to close portions of El Nido in Palawan, without giving local businesses and residents any livelihood alternatives.
In an interview with the BusinessMirror, Jose C. Clemente III, president of the 300-strong Tourism Congress of the Philippines said, “While we do support the government initiative to clean up Bacuit Bay, there is again the question of what happens to the stakeholders, both big and small, if they are not allowed to operate.”
He stressed that “Bacuit Bay is valuable to the El Nido area and cleaning it up will undoubtedly be a boon to all who use it. However, the proposed period of closure is too soon and stakeholders need time to plan around that. The question arises, as with Boracay, what is the alternative for those who need Bacuit Bay to make a living?”
He said tourism stakeholders in the municipality “who predominantly include Bacuit Bay for their clients, are hoping that they will be consulted or involved in this proposal.”
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) will soon be recommending to the interagency task force monitoring island destinations and other key tourism areas for possible pollution violations, the three-month closure of Bacuit Bay and the Corong Corong outfall; and the prohibition on water activities in these areas.(See, “‘DILG to recommend El Nido closure,’” in the BusinessMirror, July 15, 2019.)
The task force has yet to meet on the matter but Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu, who chairs the body, said he, along with DILG Secretary Eduardo M. Año and Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat, will be revisiting El Nido, as well as Panglao Island in Bohol, to check on the progress of the LGU and local stakeholders in addressing the pollution, easement and local government concerns.
A source in Ayala Hotels and Resorts Corp., meanwhile asked for clarity on which portions of Bacuit Bay would actually be closed. AHRC owns El Nido Resorts, which has four properties sitting right on Bacuit Bay—Miniloc, Lagen, and Pangalusian Islands, along with the newly opened Lio Tourism Estate.
“Are they really referring to the entire Bacuit Bay, or just El Nido Bay, which is fronting El Nido town?,” the source asked, noting that the DILG inspection team only visited El Nido town and the Corong Corong area. The source explained, El Nido Bay is contiguous to Bacuit Bay, which also includes Corong Corong Bay.
The source noted, if the entire Bacuit Bay is closed, “would this mean no one would be able to pass there, and even fisherfolk would have to defer to the [decision].” If the entire bay is closed, then the government would have had to take water samples in the middle of the ocean, or in the bay’s more pristine areas.
“In our cases, the waters surrounding our island resorts, have always tested negatively for these things,” said the source, who requested anonymity as he was not authorized to speak on the matter.
Tourist arrivals in El Nido reached 200,000 in 2017, with the LGU earning some P40 million from the environmental fee it charges each guest.
For his part, Clemente said, the government cannot close El Nido so quickly. “The resorts still have bookings, even if it is the low season.”
He also asked for a more scientific basis for the closure, noting that during the monsoon season, “trash from all over the ocean wash up on our shores, which are not necessarily ours. They should also take a look at the trash being ejected from cruise ships which visit the destination.”
He noted that “tour operators in Bacuit Bay have already been compliant with the limited numbers of tourists they take around the bay.”
Clemente cautioned the government against making any hasty decisions regarding El Nido, as what happened in Boracay Island last year. “My concern is, those stakeholders who have been complying with the task force requirements or LGU ordinances will be affected, and they will lose their livelihoods again.”
Boracay Island was closed to tourists for six months in 2018, leading to the loss of some 30,000 jobs and receipts amounting to some P30 billion.