Imagine beach sand that’s so fine that you don’t even notice when they are all over your sandals or whatever you may be wearing on your feet. And if you notice the sand, you won’t even mind it because it doesn’t hurt your feet nor annoy you. Course sand from most other beaches can give you an eerie and annoying feeling that you would always want to wash them off your feet.
Try walking on an ordinary beach barefooted especially from noon onwards during summer or on any hot sunny day and whether you like it or not you’ll be jumping all over the place because of the intense heat of the sand, unless of course you are used to walking barefoot and have grown enough "kalyos" to protect your "talampakan". But this doesn’t happen in Boracay. The sand is powdery-white and of a different constitution, less of iron I guess that’s why it’s less conducive to heat conduction, that walking on a hot sunny day can even increase the wonderful tingling sensation on your feet as you walk.
Not knowing how to swim is not even an excuse for one not to venture into Boracay’s pristine waters. The shallow part of the beachfront extends to several comfortable meters, more than enough to erase fears of the possibility of falling into a deep part of the sea floor.
Now, nightlife is something else in Boracay. Go to any bar or place of entertainment and dance to your heart’s delight, whether alone, with someone else of the opposite sex or even of the same gender and nobody would mind because everybody else is busy enjoying themselves. Just don’t get in the way of others or cause any annoyance, but even that, considering that most people who are having a grand time have super stretched patience, they would probably not even mind you.
I had a share of the many insights into what most Filipinos, especially those who have gone and visited, consider as the hands-down choice as the Philippines’ top tourist drawer, during a workshop that was initiated by a closely-knit group of motoring journalists. One of the major objectives of the workshop was to clearly identify the role of motoring in promoting local and foreign tourist travel within the country, especially to Boracay.
Mr. Nixon Kua, the very dynamic general manager of the Philippine Tourism Authority, eagerly supported the workshop. Further contributing to its success, Asian Spirit, through Mr. Jack Po, its sportsman executive vice president and Ms. Ling Ling Rodriguez, the airlines’ very charming sales and marketing manager and with the assistance of their indefatigable PR man, Allen Mojica, gladly gave its mega support by providing the travel requirements of the "exclusive family" of print and broadcast media practitioners, covering international and local motoring and motor sports events and developments, who came to Boracay for deeper insights into the island-paradise’s recent developments and further needs.
With this writer in the workshop group were Pinky Colmenares and Anjo Perez of the Bulletin, Brian Afuang of The STAR, Popong Andolong and Erle Sebastian of Today, Vernon Sarne of Rev Magazine, Ron delos Reyes and Gilbert delos Reyes of the TV show Auto Review, Jenny Bleza and Dodong Desamero of Sunshine Television Ventures (Motoring Today/Business & Leisure). During the workshop the group’s initial concern was to learn as much as we can about the site of our three-day sojourn of combined business and leisure.
Boracay is 421 kms. from Manila and mainly accessible by air and sea. It usually takes an hour’s plane ride plus a 20-minute boat ride via Caticlan to reach the now world-renowned tourist destination. It is actually located on the northern tip of Panay Island and belongs to the Municipality of Malay of the Province of Aklan. It has a total land area of 1,002 hectares consisting of three barangays, namely; ManocManoc with 317.11 has, Balagbag with 316.15 has and the biggest, Yapak with 368.74 has.
Its trade and commerce is made up principally of 226 hotels and resorts, 128 restaurants, eight bars/discos, 26 diving centers, two financial institutions, 218 sari-sari stores, six supermarkets, 15 grocery stores, five drugstores, seven hardware stores and 118 vendors, 51 percent of which are tourism-oriented.
Tricycles are the primary mode of land transportation. Considering the present road width, they are the most viable. There are also quite a number of "multi-cabs" that travel along the length of the island, many of which are owned by the hotels and resorts for their guests’ transport.
As many of you may know, Boracay’s tourism industry was nearly wiped-out in 1997 with the news that its crystal clear waters were infected by coliform bacteria, undeniably a result of the unprecedented influx of tourists, the uncontrolled mushrooming of tourism establishments and the absence of long-time development planning.
The government, in its bid to save the country’s best bet to compete with world tourism by upgrading the quality of tourism services and the quality of life of the inhabitants and visitors in the island, acted swiftly by setting into motion the Boracay Environmental Infrastructure Project (BEIP) through the Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA). The project is divided into several components, namely; (a) water supply system (b) sanitation and sewerage system and (c) solid waste system.
To date, the Philippine Tourism Authority has put into place the Boracay Water System. For the first time, potable drinking water is being distributed to residents and commercial establishments in the island as well as some areas in the mainland. The system was designed to meet the projected water supply demand of the Island and Barangay Caticlan until the year 2015.
Soon to be completely in place is Boracay’s Sanitation & Sewerage System, which is, apart from the water supply and solid waste disposal facilities, is a salient component of the BEIP, a major measure to prevent a repeat of the 1997 coliform scare. The system shall consist of sewer lines and a wastewater treatment plant plus a vacuum truck for the project’s desludging program. With the installation of these facilities the wastewater can then be collected and treated before it would be discharged to the sea through the submarine outfall pipeline, the most environmentally acceptable and feasible system for discharging treated water.
Still to be firmed up is the island’s Solid Waste Disposal System. Unquestionably a vital component of Boracay’s overall development program considering that tons of garbage emanate from the various commercial establishments, let alone the island’s inhabitants.
Next week, "a lot more are needed to be done in the island-paradise" as we conclude our two-part series.
It’s heartwarming to know that a BPI executive has contacted the victim early this week to find out further the details of the sting. The victim however still feels very strongly that the scam is a result of the failure of the ATM’s security system coupled by a lack of information dissemination regarding the known dangers that ATM account holders face and the modus operandi of the criminal elements targeting them.
Many are very interested to know the final result of BPI’s investigation so the public may be further warned about this new scam and similarly how BPI would treat the victim’s plea on the loss of more than P80,000 as a result of the failure of the ATM’s security system.
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