The proposed legislation to set up a managing authority over the crown jewel of Philippine tourism, the Boracay Island in Aklan, has its fans and detractors among the presidential candidates.
Of all the presidential candidates who showed up at the KBP Presidential Forum #PanataSaBayan on Friday, Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson and labor leader Leody de Guzman said they would enact the bill into law.
Vice President Leni Robredo, Sen. Manny Pacquiao, and Manila Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso said they would not support the Boracay Island Development Authority (BIDA) bill.
Last September, the House of Representatives approved House Bill No. 9826 creating BIDA as a powerful government-owned and -controlled corporation (GOCC), to which many island stakeholders are opposed. The Senate, which has its own BIDA versions, has yet to deliberate on their bills and that of the House version.
During the forum, Robredo said, “I won’t sign it. While I agree that it is important to have a tourism authority to manage Boracay, I don’t agree that stakeholders and the local government unit will lose their voices. All efforts must be exerted to fix it, but it should be ensured that the views of the people who will be affected will be respected.”
Pacquiao said, speaking mostly in Filipino, “First, we should trust in the powers of the DOT [Department of Tourism] and the DENR [Department of Environment and Natural Resources]. I suppose DOT has enough powers to care for and improve Boracay. Second, there should be consultations with the people if they want it [BIDA] or not; it depends on the LGU [ocal government unit] if they want it. As for me, do we still need it when the DOT is already there, focused on them? The DOT can just partner with the local government so they could focus on the development and improvement of any destination.”
For his part, Domagoso, also speaking partly in Filipino, said he would not sign the bill. “First, it’s just not the views of the stakeholders that should be heard; the profits earned there should remain with the local government. It’s only appropriate that they enjoy the marine resources, tourism, mineral resources of their respective local governments. I do believe there [are] enough laws already addressing tourism regulation. I think we should not add to government spending by not adding another bureau, when there are existing proper and effective, and local governments that benefit from the livelihood and businesses in that area. Let us not fix something that is not destroyed. National government should support the local government in that area.”
Lacson, however, said he would sign the BIDA bill: “Yes I will [sign the bill], because this is an essence of the tourism industry. Let’s give a chance to the tourism area to have a tourism estate mentality, where it could attract and really develop tourism especially in Boracay, which is popular all over the world. And because we still have a pandemic, Boracay can seek domestic tourists.”
De Guzman said the BIDA bill, if enacted into law, is a way to develop the tourism sector, “which will potentially help the economy recover faster. We need it [Bida bill]. We must ensure though the participation of the community so all the voices of those involved in the projects which will undertake will be heard.”
Several Cabinet secretaries, notably Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, opposed the bill when it was in Congress.
Members of the Boracay Interagency Task Force (BIATF), chaired by Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu, along with other government agencies did not support the creation of a Boracay Island Development Zone as envisioned by the said bill. (See, “New bill on Boracay Island regulatory authority opposed,” in the BusinessMirror, February 28, 2021.)
Dominguez said the proposed Boracay ecozone is “inconsistent with the government’s ongoing policy to streamline and rationalize the government corporate sector and bureaucracy as a whole.” He underscored the need for more coordination among government agencies in dealing with Boracay’s issues, instead of creating a new GOCC or ecozone.
Stakeholders on the island believe congressmen with the ear of President Duterte, including his son Paolo, railroaded the passage of the BIDA bill in the Lower House, which morphed from a regulatory authority in the mold of the current BIATF, to a super power government firm that will “manage, develop, preserve, and rehabilitate” the island, giving it control over Barangay Caticlan, the municipality of Malay, “and the entire area occupied by the airport, which extends to the municipality of Nabas.”
The bill also gives BIDA the power to “contract, lease, buy, sell, acquire, own or dispose movable and immovable, as well as personal and real property of whatever nature, including shares.” Taxes earned in Boracay will revert to the Boracay authority, and deprive the Malay government of means to sustain the municipality, according to stakeholders.