what have we done wrong on Boayan Island San Vicente Palawan

The on line petition has1592 total signatures with 1248 confirmed.
The "Save Boayan" facebook group has now a total of 4042 members.

Is it wrong to grow timber on timberland instead of air cons? Is it wrong to protect the eggs of the endangered Tabon Bird or the sea turtle who bury their eggs less than 50 m from the house? Or to protect the cuttlefish nesting on the reefs? Or to protect the reefs from being over fished, over gleaned and worse, poisoned with cyanide? Wrong to protect the kulasi trees from being cut and used for cooking or to try to convince people that burning the forest will not help? Wrong to protect the habitat of the vulnerable Palawan hornbill and eagles? Is it wrong to live on solar and wind energy and have no air conditioning or television?

Is it bad to have been the landmark of San Vicente, to have all the notable guests of the Mayor and the LGU visiting our home? To have the picture of our house representing San Vicente in the tourist guides, the airport and even in the PCSD web site? It is true that our house is barely seen as it merges with the landscape; is it wrong not to have put up fences and barriers saying no trespassing? or not to have set up beach umbrellas and lounging chairs to ruin the landscape? Is it an eyesore to have let nature take center stage without clutter? Have we done harm to the development of tourism in San Vicente by being featured, wittingly or unwittingly, in numerous magazines (Metro, Time, Seair Inflight Magazine, Metro Active, Conde Nast) and television shows (Sports Unlimited).

It is true that our house has been used by local officials to promote San Vicente and to entice investments -- we are proud of that. the undersecretary of tourism came for a visit and congratulated us on what we had done. We have no fences or barriers, we do not own the place we have always considered ourselves mere caretakers. We feel that luxury is not being imprisoned by walls and borders, by not having locks and keys. We know there are 11 hectares covered by our three leases ( ending in 2037) but we do not even know the exact borders. Some will say we are stupid, others will say we are trusting; but is it wrong?

march 2009, an Eagle soaring above the house
Crested Serpent Eagle, Spilornis cheela

People always ask why we do not develop into a resort with numerous cottages and rooms, but we do not need an EEC to tell us that the carrying capacity of the cove is very limited and that the ecosystem is fragile and imbalanced, one can see that immediately. Water is scarce especially in the summer months, and of course we can always ship in water from the mainland, but is it wrong to go with the natural carrying capacity of an area? The cove is one of the favorite swimming and picnic areas of people from the municipality and the environs, we have kept it as is, free and open to the public with no fences, walls or barriers. Is it wrong ?

Since 1988 we have been trying to protect the 11 hectares of shore and forest leased to us in Daplac Cove, Boayan Island, San Vicente, Palawan; an extremely fragile eco-system, the habitat and nesting ground of some endangered species such as the Tabun Bird (PCSD Res. 93-22), the green sea turtles (predator of the notorious box jellyfish), the white Philippine cockatoo, and not so endangered but nevertheless fragile species such as the Palawan Hornbills, the eagles and falcons, the monkeys, the bearded wild boar, bayawaks or monitor lizards, the parrots and giant pigeons, the kingfishers and eagles, the extremely shy and rarely seen sea otters amongst others. For 21 years we have been trying to live in harmony with them, trying not to infringe on their habitats; for 21 years we have been quietly and slowly trying to work with the migrant community of Boayan, the small fisher folk, by the sharing of technology and resources, by simple example and education. We have been learning from them just as much as they from us. Is this wrong? Is this a criminal offense?

(Pemphis acidula Forst ) This species is now threatened because of overcollection

in front of the house (watch out for the house as the turtle surfaces for breath..)

After all these years we are now being declared illegal occupants of timberland, with criminal charges being filed against us, to pave the way for a huge real estate and resort development project of a well known Manila-Boracay resort group. Lawyers can only do so much. Once again money and greed are buying up huge tracts of land, displacing people and destroying the inestimable natural capital of the public for the sake of private interest.

Can an area classified as timberland be declassified de facto for the use of private interests? Once again, is this not in total contradiction with the forestry code ?

april 2009, on the hill behind the house ,solitary Palawan Hornbill protecting the area of his nesting mate..

Ironically, if one looks at the approved Environmentally Critical Areas Network (ECAN) map of San Vicente, the entire cove of Daplac Bay on Boayan Island is surrounded by restricted use area. This actually means "Generally surrounds the core zone and provides a protective barrier. Limited and non consumptive activities may be allowed." (Sec. 9.2.a of RA 7611 SEP for Palawan Act) It is further stipulated in PCSD Resolution No. 06-270 that allows "..ecotourism activities in core zones and restricted use zones" further resolved that "ecotourism activities shall be limited to regulated botanical tours, bird watching, picture taking, trekking, mountaineering, caving, dolphin and whale watching, swimming, scuba diving, canoeing, kayaking, board walking and tree climbing subject to strict restriction..." Given this, how can any Development be allowed in the hills surrounding the bay? In fact, because of the ecological fragility and the presence of endangered and vulnerable species, the cove and bay should have been marked as an ECAN core zone for limited activity according to the SEP act RA 7611. This is in total contradiction to what can be expected from any large tourist development company and in total contradiction with the ecological viability requirements of the main feature of the Strategic Environment Plan (SEP) for Palawan witch stipulates that "The physical and biological cycles that maintain the productivity of the natural ecosystem must be kept intact."

In the past few months the world has seen many changes, the financial crisis has sparked a rethinking of material values, a realization that oil reserves are limited as with all other fossil fuels, our way of life has to change and our energy consumption minimized.
The world is changing, we are becoming more aware of the necessity to preserve the little that is left of our environment. More and more people are looking to visit environmentally sound destinations, to stay in establishments that have a conscience and a social responsibility, to support sustainable development projects that empower people to take on the responsibility of protecting our precious natural resources and make it work for the many not just for the few.

This is what we have been trying to do and will continue to do in order to save a little corner of harmony from total destruction.

Community Based sustainable Eco-tourism on Boayan Island
Project Proponents and Beneficiaries: Officers and Members of Sitios Pulang Bato and Daplac , located on Boayan Island
Project components:

* The establishment of sitio based tourist hosting facilities / camping grounds
o Training in organic gardening, culinary arts and tour guides
o Building of toilet and shower and preparation of chosen sites
* Establishment of a Marine and Forest Reserve with a Botanic Garden to showcase endemic species of plants
o Training in basic Botany to identify endemic plant species
o Tree Planting and landscaping
o Training of forest and marine rangers
* Management of Project
o Management training for Sitio Officers
o Team building for sitio members
o Refinement of organizational structure of Sitio
* Marketing of Destinations

"It requires a whole new culture for organizations to think of sustainable development in terms of whole communities in relation to their respective habitats rather than in terms of sector-specialized enterprises and capital projects. It demands a whole new discipline to combine in feasibility appraisals, social and ecological integrated with economic criteria. A new breed of managers must emerge that manages communities towards integral goals where economic efficiency is defined to include social equity and ecological wholeness as integral outputs from the use of resources.

. Ideas - Movements - Institutions: these define the sequence and process of social transformation. Ideas become dominant among a critical mass of people and stimulate social movements. Social movements topple old institutions or energize them with a new spirit and a new culture. Such a process established the hegemony of the ruling economic order responsible for the enterprise-centered, growth-obsessed, unsustainable world that we have. It will take a similar process to transform our world into the community-centered sustainable socio-economic order that alone can save humanity and its habitat."

The on line petition has1592 total signatures with 1248 confirmed.
The "Save Boayan" facebook group has now a total of 4042 members.

According to Mayor Gonzalez, "Their lease is going to expire in a few years..." If Mayor Gonzalez, or AVG as he is 'fondly' called, read the contracts or even deigned to look at them, he would have noticed that those few years are a good 27 years ...

"Hope is not blind optimism. It's not ignoring the enormity of the task ahead, or the roadblocks that stand in our path. It's not sitting on the sidelines or shirking from a fight. Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it, work for it, and fight for it."