EDITORIAL - Best island in Asia

As mentioned in an earlier editorial, the few pieces of good news we get every once in a while are always worth sharing and glossing over. And the latest good news we got was that Cebu was judged by an international lifestyle magazine as the top island in Asia for 2020.

According to the 2020 Readers’ Choice Awards of Condé  Nast Traveler, which features destination guides and other travel spots around the world, Cebu tops a list of five Asian islands. It bested Sri Lanka Ko Pha Ngan in Thailand, Palawan, and Siargao Island.

Boracay, which is touted as having the best beaches in the Philippines, was not even in the list in sixth place.

“So the names in this year’s edition are the ones that brought you comfort, that you still connected with long afterward, that got you through the months without travel. These are the enduring gems that can withstand the test of time and the vicissitudes of circumstances. So while it is always an honor to be on this list, in this strangest of years it is a special honor, indeed,” Condé Nast Traveler read.

Those who made the choices picked Cebu not just because of the tourist attractions we have like our waterfalls and beaches, but also because of our culture and history.

It is already good that our country has three of the five islands in the list. That that Cebu placed on top of this list only gives us even more satisfaction.

Now the challenge is to keep our place on top. And it is a challenge that becomes harder because of the ongoing pandemic and the protocols we have to observe.

While tourism is largely still on hold, places here and there are slowly reopening, but with strict rules and regulations governing tourists.

And it should stay that way for now. We should still discourage huge crowds.  We should still say no to the frivolous partying we are famous for. Some businesses should still be discouraged from opening. No, not just yet.

Let us remember that if we normalize too quickly we face the possibility of again seeing a spike in COVID-19 infections. And if we again slide into more stringent quarantine restrictions we can say goodbye to this particular distinction. Although in such a scenario that would be the least of our worries.