Help save Balicasag islet from deterioration

BALICASAG, IS., PANGLAO, Philippines  — If stakeholders and officials concerned want to preserve and protect this marine-rich island, off Panglao town, they better hurry up because there's much to do it might be too late.

This was the worried voice of a 56-year-old boatman here, who makes a living by being a tour guide at daytime and a tanod at night time.

The boatman, who is also an officer of the Balicasag Island United People's Organization for Progress (BIUPOP), said more than a thousand is the average monthly arrivals of tourists, both domestic and foreign, in the islet and pump boat operators and guides are making good money, especially during peak season from January to May.

The Balicasag Island Dive Resort (BIDR), operated by the Tourism Infrastructure Economic Zone Authority (TIEZA or formerly the Philippine Tourism Authority), has been accommodating tourists for years now.

A common scenario every weekend, he said: Almost a hundred motorized bancas from the mainland and other places moor here to ferry tourists who are whale watching in the nearby island of Pamilacan, off Baclayon town.

The 25-hectare islet has become a tourist haven for water sports, snorkeling or deep diving in its famous sites (Black Forest, Cathedral, Diver's Haven and Turtle Point/Royal Garden), boating and trekking around the island's loose sandy-pebbled shoreline.

What the boatman worries more is their fishing livelihood that has been threatened by poachers on the islet's marine protected areas.

There are also the illegally constructed houses, made of concrete or light materials, which have dramatically grown in numbers to about 800 at present. The islet has an elementary school and a lighthouse managed by the Philippine Navy.

Makeshift eateries for tourists have dotted the islets to cater the growing number of tourists but then these resulted in bigger problems such as waste disposal. Potable water is scarce and expensive if the islanders buy these from the mainland.

Only few households have sanitary toilets as there is no water supply for flushing and sanitation. Tourists who want to take a shower after swimming or diving will have to pay more for water they need.

Waste disposal is practically unregulated, the boatman disclosed, and tourists do not know where to put their leftovers or non-biodegradable wastes such as plastic bags or bottles. The eatery operators collect the wastes and dispose these in an open pit, of about 3 to 5 feet deep and 3x3 meters wide, dug up for the purpose on the white sand around the establishment. When the dump pit is full, it is only covered with sand, a practice that was the advice of the municipal government, said the boatman.

Plastic bottles and other non-biodegradable wastes are littered in some areas of the shoreline, and pump boats crew are even seen dropping their metal anchors indiscriminately, unmindful of the corals underwater that might be destroyed in the process, he said, adding that no mooring site has been designated anyway.

The BIDR has constructed a seawall purposely to prevent erosion of the shoreline and sand deposits. But last week, it was observed that the sand deposit had been washed away still, piling up to extend farther the shoreline up to 40 meters from the seawall. 

Illegal intrusion of fishermen into the seawater here has remained unabated despite islanders' efforts to drive them away and to protect their resources and dive sites, the main attraction of the island. This problem remained unresolved because of inaction of the local officials, said the boatman.

The BIUPOP, which is supported by the Bohol Marine Triangle, has filed a complaint against fishermen from Brgy. Das-ag, and other poachers and commercial fishing boats from Negros island and Cebu who have been using the prohibited ring-net an other destructive fishing gears. These complaints however stayed unheeded because there has been no barangay official elected in this islet, said the boatman.

The boatman also confirmed that, for now, no user's fee and other fees are imposed and collected by the LGU. The boatmen's association, comprising about 50 of them, has been making income from rent (P150 per person) of small boats that ferry guests by rowing to the fish sanctuaries. The group retains the P100 with the P50 going to the pump boat operators who bring in here these tourists, mostly from Alona Beach and other resorts in the mainland. The islet or the barangay gets no share at all.

Panglao Mayor Benedicto Alcala, for his part, has issued Executive Order No. 02-2010 prescribing rules and regulations for the implementation of Municipal Ordinance No. 03, series of 2008, or the "Environmental Users Activity Fee System."

The Provincial Board has recently approved this EO via PB Resolution No. 2010-421, signed by presiding officer Cesar Tomas Lopez as certified by PB Secretary Bonifacio Quirog.

Under the EO, tourists shall pay to the municipal treasurer or designated collector in the islet, the environment user's fee (EUF) of P100 per person for a whole day, and an entrance fee of P10 per person in any beach or seawater within the town's territorial jurisdiction.

Other fees imposed include: EUF ticket for snorkeling (50 per person); EUF token for diving for three days (P500 per person); transient boat for one day (P1,500 for a day); live-aboard boat for one day visit (P2,500); and for conduct of research, educational and other scientific activities (P300 per person).

The EO further imposes the "No ticket/Token, No Dive policy," which provides that "the dive boat captain or crew shall take hold of the EUF tickets of the divers while the latter are actually diving. Upon demand, the boat captain or assigned crew shall present the EUF tickets to the monitoring team for inspection."

The net proceeds of EUF collection are divided as follows: For municipal government (40 percent); barangay where the dive site/resort is located (30 percent); marine protected area/dive site management team (20 percent); and PADAYON (Panglao, Dauis Baclayon) Management Office (10 percent). (FREEMAN)