Boracay Island Today

As today is the start of Holy Week, as we've always practiced in the past shows, Straight from the Sky brings you our Lenten Reflections with Fr. Adonis Niñal "Fr. Dondon" Aquino who talks to us about the Paschal Mystery and the suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Indeed, too many Catholics or Christians know about the passion and death of our Lord Jesus Christ, but few have heard and much less understood what was really going on in those dark days. When our Lord Jesus said, "It is finished", it did not necessarily mean that his life was finally over, but rather that his institution of the new covenant was actually just beginning... that he would continue to be with us by taking him during Holy Communion. Watch Fr. Dondon on SkyCable's channel 15 at 8:00 p.m. tonight.

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Boracay: Last Saturday, I flew via a Dash 7 Asian Spirit four-engine aircraft piloted by Capt. Neilfren Baldo to the fabled island of Boracay for the weekend to cover the inauguration and blessing of a major component of the National Transmission Corp. (TransCo) Visayas Transmission Augmentation Program, which is the Panay-Boracay Interconnection Project (PBIP) of the Department of Energy and the National Transmission Corporation (TransCo) at the Boracay Regency Beach Resort & Convention Center.

This cable interconnection is part of the Small Island Submarine Interconnection Development (SISID) program of TransCo, aimed to connect the entire Visayan Islands into one power grid. This interconnection increases the power transfer capacity to Boracay Island by 30MVA through a 1.6 kilometer 69-kilovolt line, thus economic development to Boracay will certainly be enhanced because after the new power substation is built in the island, Boracay would soon be "brown-out free".

The ripple effect of this project is immeasurable, because from now, all those beach resorts, stores and restaurants wouldn't have any more need for their generators, which as of last count, Boracay had 166 big generators, which according to the speech of TransCo's Dr. Alan T. Ortiz, spews a noticeable load of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere in Boracay. That also means less pollution to this tourism jewel of Panay Island... not to mention the incessant noise that generators make behind those resorts.

During the inauguration ceremonies, we were able to meet the big names in the power family, TransCo's Dr. Alan T. Ortiz, Hon. Rodolfo B. Albano, Chairman of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), Fr. Francisco "Paking" Silva, Presidential Adviser on Rural Electrification, Mrs. Edith Bueno of the National Electrification Administration (NEA), Mr. Ed Manalac of the Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC), Jess Dureza of the Mindanao Peace Talks, Presidential Adviser for the Visayas Mr. Felix Guanzon and Aklan Electric Coop (Akelco) Augusto C. Tolentino, TansCo's VP for Vis-Min, Jules Alcantara and VECO's SVP Anastacio Cubos, Jr.

Boracay has changed a lot since the last time I've been here. There are a lot more hotels and restaurants now. There is even a shopping mall, the D' Mall D' Boracay, which stretches from the main concrete road all the way to the beach with small stores and shops selling everything. Cebu's very own Julie's Bakeshop is located right at the main road. Of course, the number one selling items are beach wear, ranging from slippers, bikinis, beach shorts and sunscreens. Yes, girls wearing bikinis are normal wear in Boracay.

What is even surprising is that, most restaurants are not that expensive... when you compare their prices to the room rates of the resort hotels. The Boracay Regency Resort for instance charges P10,400 for a deluxe room that has no access to the swimming pool. Worse of all, your welcome gets exhausted when you reach your check out schedule, where you are given a firm warning... that you must leave at the exact hour with no extensions! The hotel staff then focuses its smiles on the new hotel guests, while you feel that you're no longer welcomed to stay.

Yes, I walked a kilometer and a half to the right of the hotel and another kilometer to the left of it, just to experience Boracay at night. Yes, I met Rep. Nerry Soon with her kids and the Clavano brothers, Ronnie, Chito and Ramon, my neighbors who've transplanted themselves to Manila. Yes, the main road in Boracay isn't as crowded as the beachfront... where people lie down on the beach, frolic with friends, while the numerous beach bands play their sounds into the night.

No doubt, tourist money is pouring into Boracay's hotels and restaurants... but is the government getting its rightful share? I doubt it... the shops and restaurants find you strange when you ask for a receipt. I'm sure that the BIR doesn't know how much revenues they are losing in Boracay.

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