Protect Boracay’s environment

Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Mike Defensor is in the midst of a full blown war of words with some of the entrepreneurs now raking it in at Boracay. When I chanced upon Mike last week at Myther’s, I told him I was not as interested in his land dispute with the Boracay folks as I am with the need to preserve the environment that makes Boracay so attractive to tourists.

I can’t see why this Strong Republic is unable to enforce environment protection laws on the very people who are profiting from Boracay’s attractiveness to tourists. Some years ago, during Mina Gabor’s watch at the Tourism department, the threat of environmental degradation became clear. The level of harmful organisms rose alarmingly and all because of Boracay’s raw sewage being disgorged in the sea and tarnishing its white sand beach.

Then Tourism Secretary Gabor tried to minimize the danger to health by walking barefoot in the beach. That made a good publicity photo but did little to minimize the very real danger of ingesting E.coli and other deadly micro organisms by swimming in Boracay’s very inviting waters. The goose laying our tourism industry’s very large golden eggs is in danger of being poisoned by pollution from people who should know better.

With financial assistance from the Japanese, the Philippine Tourism Authority built a sewage treatment plant but I understand, not all the establishments there are connected to it. Seems like there are those who now benefit from Boracay tourism but who do not care about the island’s long term viability as a tourist paradise.

Now Mike Defensor says, he is going to enforce the law no matter who gets hurt. But even Mike is cautious, as he agreed to give them time to get through the peak season before he starts closing establishments down. In the meantime, the very people who profit from Boracay can continue to degrade the environment with raw sewage and endanger the health of tourists visiting the island as well.

Ironically, the environmental problem of Boracay is not the problem that is firing up anger against Mike. It is Mike’s plan to fix the nebulous land titling system in the island. According to Mike, only the Tirol family has legal title to the land they occupy. How they were able to title their land is another matter. If Mike is to be believed, the rest are little more than squatters with no legal basis for holding on to their land.

For me, that’s for the courts and maybe, Congress to look into and decide. Declaring lands alienable and disposable is a privilege reserved for Congress. Determining the authenticity of titles is something for the courts to do. But I was just thinking that maybe, this doubt on their land titles is why some of those who now profit from Boracay’s attractiveness have no interest in preserving the environment. They have a squatter’s mentality. They are there to get what they can for as long as they could and move on.

If Boracay is as valuable as we say it is for Philippine tourism, there is a need for government to step in and enforce not just regulations to preserve its environment but also some amount of environmental planning. Growth has mushroomed haphazardly in the island and at this rate, sustainable growth is in doubt. Sooner or later, we would have so abused Boracay so as to destroy it as a magnet for tourism.

Mike should prioritize enforcement of environmental laws in the island and the Tourism department should enforce some kind of centralized planning to assure the island’s long term viability. If Ate Glo’s government can’t even impose order and respect for laws in one tiny island, how can we expect it to manage the rest of our 7,099?

Professional Managers For GOCCs

President Arroyo said she tries to keep the salaries and benefits of some GOCC officers attractive because she wants to be competitive with the private sector. She is saying that by keeping the compensation package interesting, she can also get a performance that is higher than can be expected from ordinary government bureaucrats.

Unfortunately, Ate Glo’s GOCC executives have failed to deliver. I understand that the 14 monitored GOCCs alone contributed a combined deficit of P43 billion last year, an amount that is close to the P48 billion they expect to collect from the additional two percent VAT. Rep. Eduardo Gullas has a better suggestion than Ate Glo’s currently employed strategy of pampering GOCC officials. Gullas wants to go private fully by hiring turn around specialists, some of whom may even be paid only if they succeed.

Then again, many of the monitored GOCCs are meant to lose money… like the National Food Authority and the Light Rail Transit Authority. Maybe it is better to convert them into government bureaus so we know what to expect from them. But the congressman is right in suggesting that we find out which of the government corporations should be scuttled not just for losing money but for being useless.

Given that we have just raised our taxes, the least government can do is account for every centavo of our hard earned money. And yes, stop outrageous perks enjoyed by those good for nothing executives. I just read about OWWA officials joining the ranks of the coconut industry fund officials in terms of bureaucratic insensitivity. Ate Glo can only let them get away with it at her peril. I hope she realizes that.

Lemon Cars, Etc

I have been getting a number of consumer complaints about lemon cars, lousy appliance after sales service and problems with cellphone service providers. I just got word from the Department of Trade that they are more than happy to help aggrieved consumers get some action through their consumer protection bureau.

The person to look for at DTI is Atty. Vic Dimagiba. He is a nice fellow with a ready smile and an eagerness to help. Actually, he can do a lot more to help consumers than getting your complaints published in my column, which I would still gladly do. It seems some companies, including seemingly reputable ones, take negative publicity in stride. But they have to act when a government agency takes up a consumer complaint.

I am surprised there are so many complaints for lemon cars. I can understand the feeling of anger and frustration, given that first hand cars are pretty expensive and it isn’t too much to expect that these cars work well. While car manufacturers explain that some lemon cars can’t be helped, there is no excuse for them to ignore complaints when buyers call their attention.

The lemon car from General Motors did not surprise me, given its lousy reputation even in its home market. GM has been losing sales in the US to Toyota and other Asian rivals. American car buyers are consumers first and foremost, it seems, and won’t hesitate to buy a better car from Toyota than from Detroit. Standard & Poor’s has also cut its corporate credit ratings to junk status for both GM and Ford Motor Co., the other American car company in trouble, proof that they have lost consumer trust and confidence.

But the report of my doctor friend about Honda is surprising. More surprising still is the lack of attention when the problem was brought up to Honda management. I expected more from Honda… a lot more!

Some Asshole

Here’s Atty Sonny Pulgar.

A doctor walked into a bank. Preparing to endorse a check, he pulled a rectal thermometer out of his shirt pocket and tried to ‘write’ with it.

Realizing his mistake, he looked at the thermometer with annoyance and said, "Well that’s great, just great... some asshole’s got my pen."

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]