It's been several months since Boracay was closed for rehabilitation. It was a planned six month rehabilitation project which the island will have a soft opening by October 26, 2018. So what was going on after some time? The island is now starting to recover its natural pristine beauty. I'm amazed at how this long overdue project (which should have been done during Noynoy Aquino's administration but was presumably shut down out of spite for Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo) was finally done. The results are not instantaneous but it's amazing how much was done by doing the long overdue project. I may not be a fan of the current House Speaker but at least I'm in favor of some of her projects -- which should have been carried by Noynoy during the last term.
Now this is one thing I'd like to stress -- tourism is part of good economics but not too much tourism. It's like having the goose who lays the golden eggs and why you shouldn't kill it. Boracay is a goose that lays golden eggs for the Philippines yet it also needs a break from laying it. You can't expect your chickens to lay eggs all the time without compromising the quality of the eggs produced in your farm. The problem with too much tourism is that it doesn't give the land much space to recover. These resorts will have to prepare for the tourists' arrival. Not to mention that there would be overfishing. Fishing is part of business but if you capture all the fish then there will be nothing to fish later and all fishing businesses will be closed down. Cut down all the trees at once and there will be no more lumber businesses because there are no more trees. Sell all the farmlands to greedy businessmen and you will have no more food.
The problem isn't tourism but rather trying to make a quick buck without long term plans on how to keep the tourism engine running -- even if it means giving it a break so there will be more high quality tourism later. So how would giving a break for tourism actually help tourism? I did mention earlier after fishing and not capturing all the fish. Why do you go to beach islands? You may want to eat some delicious seafood in the process. Yet, the problem is that it's not all the time it's fishing season. If you keep capturing all the fish then where's the fish you can boast about to the guests? If you keep letting people use the beach then later you won't have a beautiful beach to boast about. But if you decide to let it rest during off-seasons then think of how much you allow the land to rest so it could recuperate. Without this recuperation then business will only deteriorate in its quality then you can expect to say goodbye to the nature tourist spot. However, giving nature time to rest and being left alone will be more helpful for tourism in the long run.
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