Malapascua Island won’t be like Boracay – Loot

CEBU, Philippines — Daanbantayan Mayor Vicente Loot has assured the public that Malapascua Island is far from experiencing 'Boracay situation.' He added that he has no plans yet to temporarily close down the island.

Malapascua Island is located in the northeastern tip of Cebu Province. Aside from its white sand, the island is visited by tourists who love diving because of the presence of thresher sharks in the area.

He admitted that Malapascua is yet to have a centralized sewage system. However, the municipal government has required each establishment on the island to submit an individual septage management plan to ensure that only treated water is directly discharged back to the environment.

The LGU is also in the process of developing a Comprehensive Ecological Tourism Development Plan to ensure that Malapascua will not fall victim to the same fate as Boracay.

On the northwest side lies Bantayan Island. It is multiple times bigger than Malapascua. In fact, the island is home to three towns namely Bantayan, Santa Fe, and Madridejos. Among the three, Santa Fe is the one with the most number of resorts.

Santa Fe Mayor Jose Esgana said that they are yet to follow the steps taken by Oslob. The same with Malapascua, the town does not have a centralized sewage system.

Responding to this, Esgana said the municipal government will be organizing a summit on the first week of May to serve as avenue for their constituents, local leaders, business establishments, and environmental protection experts to come together. The goal of the summit will be to gather relevant data for the making of a municipal disciplinary action plan.

In June, a team from the LGU is also set to inspect the compliance of business establishments to environmental laws. Virgin Island, a private island, is of no exception.

On the southwest part, Moalboal Mayor Inocentes Cabaron said that he will only close the town’s beach if the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will recommend it.

“The EMB people have already checked and inspected our resorts and seawater we will wait for their recommendation. Imo diay pasirhan bisan ug walay order sa EMB?  Kana panglimpyo, okay na anytime,” he told THE FREEMAN.

The local government units in both northern and southern portions of Cebu, which offer beach destinations, assured the public that they will exercise their authority to protect the natural wonders of Cebu.

Meanwhile, only the sandbar and the diving spot area are closed in Sumilon Island. Bluewaters - Sumilon clarified that the whole island is not closed. Even with the closure of the sandbar area, the resort will continue with its usual operations.

The island has an area of 24 hectares and is located in the southeast portion of the jurisdiction of Cebu Province. Only about a hectare of which is managed by the local government unit of Oslob according to Bluewaters Corporate Marcomm Manager Erik Monsanto. He added that part of the said public portion is the sandbar, which is the most visited part of the island.

The resort received a memorandum from the Office of the Municipal Mayor this month about the week-long closure which will commence on April 10 and will end on April 16. Within the said period, the LGU will be cleaning up the closed areas.

“We are very happy with the action of Mayor Tumulak. Actually, we are for the longer closure,” he told THE FREEMAN in a phone interview.

The management also expressed willingness to help if the LGU will tap them so they can lend their available equipment and the expertise of their marine biologists.

Monsanto added that it was Bluewaters which talked with the municipal government and proposed for the temporary closure of the public portion of Sumilon at the height of the Boracay closure talks two weeks ago. He explained that many tourists in the area leave their trash while some even defecate.

“The Provincial Tourism Office once conducted a study and we were worried,” explained Monsanto on why they proposed the move.

He continued that they are very thankful for the decision to clean the area because the beauty of Sumilon’s natural environment is their primary market magnet. Should the island fall into ruins because of tourism abuse, it would not be good for their business and for the community as well.

Unlike in Boracay, Monsanto assured that Sumilon has a functional centralized sewage system and solid waste management plan. He described that their company “invested so much” to put the two environmental measures in place to assure that the environmental condition will not degrade despite the presence of a business establishment and to become a certified ASEAN Green Hotel. (FREEMAN)