EMB accredits West Cove Resort as Pollution Control Fighter

The Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has given the West Cove Resort here a certificate of accreditation as pollution control officer.

This, after the EMB-DENR-Western Visayas invited the said resort recently as participant to the pollution control forum held in Iloilo City. The forum was also organized together with the Pollution Control Association of the Philippines Incorporated.

Said forum was held during the 33rd Regional Convention and General Membership Assembly on June 27-28, 2013.

The certificate of accreditation was signed by DENR regional director Atty. Jonathan Bulos dated July 17.

"This certificate shows that we are committed in preserving the environment and not to cause pollution especially for Boracay Island considered as one of the World's Best Beaches," said Mobo on Thursday.

Also earlier, the TripAdvisor, one of the world's leading tourism firms, has awarded the West Cove Resort with the Certificate of Excellence as one of the champions for 2013.

New jetty port in Bulalacao to further boost PHL tourism

Negotiations are now underway for the possible opening of a new jetty port in Bulalacao, Oriental Mindoro.

Niven Maquirang, Caticlan Jetty Port administrator, said Tuesday that the new jetty port will traverse the route Bulalacao to Caticlan in Aklan and Bulalacao to Palawan. This new route hopes to increase tourism activity in the country.

"We already have a vessel that is interested to ply on the said route. We expect that the jetty port in Bulalacao will be operational in October this year," Maquirang said.

If realized, travel time from Bulalacao to Caticlan is expected to be at least two hours and thirty minutes.

Before the opening of the new route, a travel from Roxas, Oriental Mindoro and Caticlan, in Malay, Aklan has been already operational for several years through the roll on-roll off vessel. Travel time on the RO-RO vessel is five to six hours.

With these developments, tourists coming to Boracay will also soon enjoy Palawan and vice versa.

Bulalacao formerly known as San Pedro is a fourth class municipality of Oriental Mindoro. Report said that Bulalacao also offers good beaches, coves, peninsulas, and other tourism attractions.

‘Boracay needs new hospital’

The Department of Health (DOH) is currently studying the possibility of building another hospital in this island resort.

Dr. Victor Sta. Maria, Provincial Health Office head, said he recently discussed the matter with DOH representative Zuela Calizo.

“The DOH wanted to build a new hospital that is equipped with modern facilities [that] meet international standards,” Sta. Maria said.

The Department of Tourism (DOT) and the residents here have expressed disappointment to the state of the Boracay District Hospital.

Now the DOH is coordinating with the municipal government of Malay in looking for a possible location for the new hospital.

Aside from the hospital, the DOT is also pushing for the acquisition of an air or boat ambulance.

Earlier, it said an air or boat ambulance could best cater to the health needs of rich foreign and local tourists coming to Boracay.

Currently, the sick or victims of accidents here were being transported via public bancas to mainland Malay, then to the hospital in the capital town of Kalibo.

Malay Council seeks increase of maximum height limit for Boracay buildings

Despite the effort of the national government for environmental sustainability in this resort island, the Malay council is seeking to allow the increase of maximum height limit for buildings in this resort island.

The proposal is embodied in the municipal ordinance number 328 series of 2013 deliberated and passed by the Malay body last June 18.

It can be recalled that President Benigno Simeon Aquino III recently asked for the creation of Boracay Task Force which hopes to ensure environmental sustainability in this resort island. The task force is composed of departments of tourism (DOT), of environment and natural resources (DENR) and, of interior and local government (DILG) among others.

In the said proposed ordinance, the council seeks to add sections four and five of the municipal ordinance 267 series of 2008 and at the same time conduct amendments to the section ten of such local legislation.

The addendum highlights the maximum height limitations of the building that maybe constructed from one hundred meters and beyond the buffer zone shall not exceed 16 meters five-storey building provided that the lot area shall be 5,000 square meters but less than two hectares.

Another addendum features the maximum height of the building that maybe constructed from 100 and beyond the buffer zone shall not exceed 20 meters six-storey building provided that the lot area is two hectares and above.

The original ordinance stipulates that the maximum limit for buildings in this resort island will only be at least three-storey to prevent Boracay from reaching its overloaded capacity.

The council justifies that the continued influx of tourist in this resort island is overwhelming, industry development is inevitable and progress can no longer be suppressed, thus a need to increase the maximum height limitations of buildings in this resort island.

The Malay municipal council also mandates that applicants in the said local legislation should post amounting to five percent of the total cost of the project but shall not exceed P1 million.

The Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP)of Aklan has called the municipal engineering of Malay and the proponents for a committee hearing on Monday August 19 for the provincial board members to decide whether to endorse the said ordinance or not.

TESDA to probe alleged discrimination of workers in Boracay

The Technical Education Skills and Development Authority (TESDA) is looking into the alleged discrimination in the hiring of workers in this resort island.

This developed after the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) officially reported that their study showed that most of the workers being hired here are from the nearby provinces of Iloilo, Cebu, and Negros Occidental.

Because of this, Aklan residents are allegedly being displaced in the hiring process.

TESDA officials said that they provide nationwide accreditation and that the trainings being provided are the same in all provinces.

Aklan Vice Gov. Gabrielle Calizo-Quimpo said that TESDA officials were surprised by the results of the DOLE study and committed to take a look into the concern.

The Aklan provincial government is implementing a policy that Aklan residents should be prioritized in the hiring of employees in the province especially in this resort island.

"The TESDA wishes to understand why people coming from other provinces are being hired rather than the local residents," Quimpo added.

Bali, Boracay set to sign sisterhood agreement

The government of Bali, Indonesia will soon sign a sisterhood agreement with the Aklan provincial government.

Aklan Gov. Florencio Miraflores said Indonesian Ambassador to the Philippines Yohanes Kristiarto Soeryo Legowo confirmed the plan during their meeting Tuesday.

"The initiative came from the Indonesian government as Boracay has recently been considered one of the world's best beaches," Miraflores said Wednesday.

In his presentation during the meeting, Legowo said that the Indonesian government is committed for joint tourism promotion, joint tourism management training, familiarization trip for travel agencies and tour operators, seminar for tourism development, export of local handicrafts, opening of branch tour operator, and direct flights from Denpasar to the Kalibo International Airport.

"I was told that the Indonesian government wanted to learn from our people's voluntary effort on environmental conservation and management. Some Indonesians are reportedly not keen on volunteering to help in their environmental sustainability," Miraflores said.

In December last year, the Indonesian embassy had sent a representation to the Aklan provincial government to discuss the proposed sisterhood agreement. Legowo visited Boracay last year on the invitation of Ilocos Gov. Chavit Singson.

"Apparently, Legowo, fell in love with Boracay Island, one of the considerations why the sisterhood agreement is being finalized," Miraflores said.

Bali became famous as a tourism zone in the 1950's while Boracay earned international recognition in the 1980's.

Kalibo international airport may restrict operations next year

 The Department of Tourism (DoT) has recommended possible restrictions in the operation of the Kalibo International Airport (KIA) next year.

Helen Catalbas, regional director of the Department of Tourism Region 6 (DOT-6), said Tuesday the plan is to close KIA to too many aircraft because of overcrowding.

"Right now, the KIA suffers from overcrowding due to the increasing number of foreign and local tourists going to Boracay," the tourism official said.

The KIA is considered a major gateway for tourists coming to this resort-island.

To lessen the economic impact of the KIA restrictions, the DOT has urged the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) to fast track all planned development for the airport, including rehabilitation and extension.

The CAAP had earlier tagged the KIA as one of the ten busiest airports in the country. It currently has direct chartered flights from Singapore, Hong Kong and other China provinces.

It also has a number of domestic flights daily from Manila.