Boracay resort owners allay new investors’ fears

Take it in a positive light.

This was the advice of Dr. Orlando Sacay, former chairman of the Boracay Foundation Inc. (BFI), to new Boracay investors who have expressed alarm over the move of newly installed Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Lito Atienza to declare a six-month moratorium on all construction on the island.

Sacay said they received reports that a few new investors in Boracay have expressed concern about the fate of their business ventures, specifically the scheduled construction of more hotels, following Atienza’s order. 

The resort owners said these investors should take the moratorium in a positive light since a halt to new construction projects would allow the government to assess the present situation in Boracay and prepare a development master plan, which, in turn, would “protect their investments.” 

“We should thank and support Secretary Atienza for his concern and initiative in declaring a moratorium. Investors whose construction plans were postponed should regard the step as (a protection for) their investments. They should not take it negatively,” Sacay told The STAR in a phone interview. 

Application for permits for the construction of at least two 400-room resort-hotels and a few smaller establishments in Boracay are reportedly pending with the local government.

Among these new investments is the supposed construction of a big resort-hotel beginning October. 

Sacay faulted the municipal council for “this crisis of sorts” in the resort island, saying the moratorium could not have been declared had it acted on a proposed executive order on the creation of the Boracay Development Council, as agreed upon during the Boracay 2010 Summit in September 2005. 

Sacay said the council, as envisioned, would tackle pressing problems affecting the island, including uncontrolled development and overcrowding – the very basis for the construction moratorium.

“The stepping in of the national government should serve as wake-up call to (Boracay) stakeholders, especially the municipal council,” he said.

But Sacay said the plan to create the Boracay Development Council could still be revived.

“We just hope that the local government, including the mayor and his council, would see the merit of the Boracay Summit this time,” he said.

The council, as proposed, would specifically deal with problems in Boracay such as garbage collection, in-migration, water and power shortage, pollution, and criminality.