Malay council may adopt Boracay bridge project

The Municipal Council of Malay may adopt the proposal to build a P5.5-billion bridge in this resort island soon.

Vice Mayor-elect Floribar Bautista said Wednesday, June 26, that he is looking for the bridge to become an effective solution against certain problems in this resort island.

Bautista's reign will start effective June 30 after winning the election last May.

Earlier, the Department of Public Works and Highways announced that it will soon give original proponent status (OPS) to the San Miguel Corp. (SMC).

The SMC in 2018 offered unsolicited proposal to the government to build the bridge.

"The bridge is just one of the three options I wanted Boracay to have. One is a cable car, another will be through underwater tunnel and the third the bridge. Having Boracay connected in Malay will lessen prices of basic commodities and will speed up delivery of services," said Bautista.

"One of Boracay's biggest challenge(s) is tourists were sometimes stranded as boats are not allowed to sail especially during typhoons. Through a bridge, tourists could now conveniently travel to safety," Bautistra added.

He also suggested that protective measures should be in place to avoid possible abuses on the use of the bridge.

For his part, Godofredo Sadiasa, of the Caticlan Boracay Transport Multi-Purpose Cooperative (CBYMPC), said they welcome the proposal "because they have no choice."

The CBTMPC is a cooperative of boat operators in this resort island.

"The challenge here for me is we hope that the government would support the boat crews who may be displaced with the said development, possible increase of community livelihood and the possibility that the pristine beauty of Boracay would now be lesser," he said.

At present, the CBTMPC is bracing itself and finding other alternatives once the proposed construction of bridge will push through.

Local PCCI forges cooperation with Texas Chamber

The Philippine-American Chamber of Commerce of Texas (Rio Grande Valley Region) has officially forged a partnership with the Aklan Provincial Government and the local chapters of Kalibo and Boracay of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI).

Ramel Buncalan, PCCI-Kalibo president, said Monday, June 24, they held a joint signing of the cooperation agreement at the Provincial Governor's Office last June 20. 

Buncalan signed the deal on behalf of the PCCI-Kalibo, while Elena Brugger signed on behalf of PCCI-Boracay. Aklan Governor Florencio Miraflores and Texas Chamber Chair Rhodora Elizondo also signed the cooperation agreement.

"We welcome this development as this is another milestone for business and trade sector in the province," said Buncalan.

Under the agreement, the forms of cooperation include the exchange of economic and industrial technical data about the participant's regions for the purpose of educating each other on their respective strengths for possible import and export of products, visits and exchanges of representatives, trade policy analysts and other experts in technical personnel, information exchange on mutual market issues, technical meetings, joint seminars, workshops and exhibitions, bilateral trade and investment missions and business exposition, joint or cooperative programs and projects, establishment of closer links between business interests, education and training participation in an ongoing program, creation of a sister chambers, and other forms of cooperative activities.

Council renews advocacy vs rice straw burning

THE Provincial Agriculture and Fisheries Council (PAFC) in Aklan is passing a resolution asking the local government units in the province to renew their commitment against rice straw burning practice among farmers.

In a PAFC quarterly meeting held Thursday, June 20, at the Aklan Provincial Capitol, Emerlinda R. Dela Cruz, PAFC chairman, said the burning of rice straws has been one of the concerns raised by the council's members.

Incidents of burning rice straws have reportedly been monitors in some barangays in the towns of Lezo, Tangalan and Makato, among others.

Some farmers said the barangay officials should be in the front line in intensifying the campaign against rice straw burning.

Many of the officials, however, are hesitant to make apprehensions for fear of not supporting them in the barangay elections scheduled in 2020.

"In the province, we are invoking the provincial ordinance enacted for several years already. Violators, when caught, will be penalized will be asked to join a seminar, render community service, or pay a penalty of P500," said Dela Cruz.

But she said that although the provincial ordinance renders light penalties among others, it is not easy for the local government unit to implement it.

"For one, based on the provincial clean air act code, a town should first organize a soil conservation committee. The committee should [be] composed of the Municipal Agriculture Office, a Sanguniang Bayan chair on agriculture and fisheries, a representative of the Municipal Development Council, among others," Dela Cruz said.

According to the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), burning of rice straws, which is generally practiced during the harvest season, causes air pollutants such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, and sulphur dioxide. If continually done, it will decrease soil’s nitrogen, 25 percent of phosphorus, 20 percent of potassium, and 5-60 percent of sulfur.

The practice also damages food resources of beneficial insects in the rice field, said PhilRice.

The Solid Waste Management Act (Republic Act 9003) and Philippine Clean Air Act of 1999 prohibit open-field burning, including burning of rice straws.

In Aklan, burning of rice straws also affects tourists coming to and from Boracay Island, as several farmers burn their rice straws along the highway.

Some agriculturists in Aklan described the scenario as an inferno-like scenery, when farmers started burning of rice straws simultaneously.

Valerie Briones, a representative of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), said while provincial ordinance is difficult to implement, local enforcers may face a harder experience if they invoke the national law against rice straw burning.

"The easiest is to urged the Philippine National Police (PNP) to apprehend suspects in the actual rice straw burning," she said.

Briones said local enforcers could also use citation tickets, but based on national standard, "citation tickets should be printed at the National Printing Office in order for it to become legally valid."

The council is also eyeing to introduce vermi composting machines to recycle rice straws for fertilizer through the organized cooperatives and the use of shredding machines as an alternative against the rice straw burning problems, she added.

25 Boracay establishments face closure

THE Boracay Inter-Agency Rehabilitation Management Group (BIARMG) has started distributing notices of closure to about 25 establishments that failed to get business permits and violated the road easement law.

Natividad Bernardino, chair of the BIARMG, said they started distributing the closure order Monday, June 17. 

The 25 establishments were part two of the crackdown undertaken by the BIARMG against erring establishment owners in the resort island. Last month, the group closed down 11 shops, many of whom were Chinese firms.

"The BIARMG has been giving the establishments notices to comply since April but until now, they are remiss. We have to enforce the closure order in order to remind the establishments that we mean business in rehabilitating Boracay," Bernardino said.

Among the shops that face closure are a famous health and wellness shop, a commercial bank, and cellphone repair shops, among others.

Bernardino said they had informed the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Roy Cimatu that they are investigating several DENR officials who are allegedly giving out certification to establishments that have existing violations.

She said there may be a third round of closure, as they await the next set of elected officials who sit starting July 1. 

New council eyes to implement price tag law

THE new set of municipal councilors who will sit on July 1 is eyeing to strictly implement the price tag law among vendors and businessmen who sell certain products in Boracay Island.

Incumbent Councilor and Vice Mayor-elect Frolibar Bautista said Monday, June 17, that the price tag law is just among the priorities of the council. 

"We in the council for several years has been receiving complains especially from tourists about the expensive goods being sold in Boracay. I am receiving reports that many businessmen in this resort island are charging higher fees to a certain product once they saw that a foreigner has an interest in buying their products," he said.

Once the price tag law has been strictly and fully implemented, the prices of products will now be uniform among residents and tourists.

The price tag law, anchored on Republic Act 7394, is also known as the Consumer Act of the Philippines. It mandates that one should only need to purchase the product based on the price tag no matter what the seller says.

The price tag law is usually based on the existing suggested retail price recommended by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

Bautista said he will coordinate with the DTI for the implementation of the law.

He said he is confident that his council would support his advocacy since many of the members were his allies.

Bautista, suspended and re-elected Mayor Ciceron Cwaling and several council members won the majority of the post in the May 2019 elections.

They recently took their oath of office at the Kalibo Regional Trial Court.

More 'contaminated' meat confiscated at KIA

Around 13 kilos of alleged contaminated meat was confiscated Sunday, June 9, 2019 by the Quarantine section of the Kalibo International Airport (KIA).

Doctor Christine Lyn Melgarejo, veterinarian officer III of the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), said that 11 kilos of the said meat was contaminated from a South Korean tourist Sunday evening. Another two kilos was confiscated from a Chinese tourist Sunday afternoon.

On Friday, June 7, the KIA has burned some 100 kilos of the said contaminated meat at the Kalibo dumpsite. The confiscated meat was recovered at the KIA from arriving Chinese and South Korean tourists at the KIA in the previous weeks.

“Since last year (2018), we received a memorandum from the central office to confiscate meat products that are suspected to be contaminated coming from different countries at the KIA. Most of those meat were placed inside the luggage and we wonder why they were still able to enter the airport,” Melgarejo said.

The meat some of those were intestines were being brought by the tourists as their personal consumption on their vacation to Boracay Island. The meat was monitored by the Bureau of Customs at the KIA and then informs the quarantine personnel.

“We then fumes it before placing it in our storage facility. After some time we burned it,” Melgarejo added.

She added that it will put up local meat products at risk if they were mixed with suspected contaminated meat from abroad.

The KIA welcomes 35 flights daily many of whom were direct flights coming from different cities and provinces in China and South Korea. Almost all of these foreign flights has tourists bound to Boracay Island.