BACK to old bad habits again?
Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat reiterated that fire dancing on Boracay Island is still strictly prohibited unless the dancers use LED lights.
“Bawal pa ’yan (That’s still banned). It’s against the environment,” she told the BusinessMirror via Messenger, after receiving videos of firedancers doing a show at Wave Bar on the island. The video showed the dancers waving their kerosene-lighted lamps called poi closely around the faces and bodies of the bar’s guests, who appeared delighted despite the danger the action posed to the person.
The Boracay Inter-Agency Task Force (BIATF), which oversaw the rehabilitation of the island, prohibited firedancing on the island starting October 26, 2018, or six months after it reopened to tourism. Aside from firedancing, other major attractions on Boracay that had been prohibited were the wild parties on the beachfront that used to happen during Labor Day, the building of sandcastles, and wedding receptions on the beach.
The BIATF also strictly implemented easement regulations, such that 25+5 meters of the white beach should be kept free of obstructions like chairs, tables, and lounge beds.
Pontoon within easement
However, an orange pontoon between stations 1 and 2 now juts across the white beach and into the water, destroying the line of sight of tourists. Instead of having a clear sight of the beach and its clean waters, visitors see hordes of people clambering onboard pump boats that are to take the latter on trips around the island.
Malay councilor Nenette Graf explained, “It’s a pontoon for watersports being used during amihan (northwest monsoon).” According to Department of Tourism (DOT) Regional Director for Western Visayas Cristine Mansinares, however, the pontoon was approved by the BIATF, but so far, no documentation has been seen showing such approval.
The BIATF was chaired by former Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu and cochaired by Romulo Puyat and Interior Secretary Eduardo M. Año.
Also, hawkers of boat trips and other water sports activities freely roam on the island once more, unlike prior to the pandemic lockdown, when there was a centralized station located between stations 1 and 2, where said activities could be booked by tourists.
Data from DOT-Region 6 showed 179,920 tourist arrivals on Boracay from January to March 12, 2022, a three-fold increase from the same period in 2021. From March 1-12 alone, there were 56,239 arrivals, of which 609 were foreigners, 462 were overseas Filipinos, while the bulk of domestic tourists at 22,170 came from the National Capital Region.