By Jullie Y. Daza
FOR all its “uglification” (coined by urban planner Jun Palafox) and everything that’s wrong with Boracay, the mystery is why the tourists keep/kept coming – up to the last minute of midnight April 25, if possible.
Apparently, Boracay’s visitors find pollution of the air, water, soil, plus noise and visual pollution, appealing to their senses, the Boracay voted the world’s most beautiful beach not too long ago? And in spite of the sins that have been committed in tourism’s name and the “cesspool” label pinned on our most famous paradise island/island paradise, Boracay is still beautiful and always will be.
Let’s keep it that way by respecting the order to shutter it for four to six months. For once, trust DENR, DILG, DoT to know what they’re doing. The local government may not totally 100 percent agree with the strategy for a north-to-south, east-west cleanup before the resurrection, but the fact that they hired an internationally famous firm like Palafox to design and execute the masterplan for the new Boracay shows that they realize there’s a big problem and it should be solved now, not tomorrow.
Jun has been speaking up and showing a video of what Boracay should look like six months from now, after “they uglified it.” The island, 7 km long with a perimeter of 24 km, is the victim of “greed [that] led to gridlock.” Many years ago, he said on DZMM Teleradyo, Boracay needed six sewerage plants; “today more are needed.” Today, beach bums, bikini beauties, and bouncing babies are denied their right to privacy and tranquility by the insatiable appetite of merchants who conveniently forget the first commandment to observe an easement of 25 plus 5. “Violators must pay,” he said, adding that the ideal should be 50 meters. Structures squatting on the water and wetlands should be replaced by houses standing on stilts, for the simple reason that concrete destroys the ecosystem that preserves the white powdery sand which took nature thousands of years to form. No mall or casino – “Anyway gamblers won’t be looking at the beach” – unless far, far from shore, and buildings should not exceed five stories. No more noisy trikes puttering around the island; instead, trams and cable cars.
Jun’s two-way boast: “I’ve been to 74 countries, the Philippines is the most beautiful.” Thanks to the closure of Boracay, more of us will be discovering more of those 7,107 islands.
