Zoilo “Bingo” P. Dejaresco III l September 12, 2023 l Manila Bulletin
Bohol had long decided that Tourism was to be its flagship industry. That it cannot be all things to everyone- like it cannot have too many mining sites in abundance and still preserve its pretty tourist spots.
Bohol’s preserving its tourism gems, cultural icons, and historical treasures earned it the respect that UNESCO last year blessed the island province to be the Philippines’ only Global Geopark.
Newcomer Governor Aris Aumentado proudly declared before the 34th Travel Mart at the SMX Convention Center last week that Bohol Geopark is not only the 5th largest in the world but already the biggest in the whole of Asia as well.
And the venerable 1,776 Chocolate Hills is a generous part of that citation.
The late governor Rico Aumentado (father of Aris) was so aghast that- back then- DENR continued to grant mining and quarrying permits for the towns of Carmen, Sagbayan, and Batuan (that house the hills) that he sought and got Capitol jurisdiction over the hills from DENR in 2006.
An earlier 2003 amendment had mandated “regulation of activity even among privately owned areas in between the hills”. Yet, up to 2016, we still hear of the complaints about the “rape of the chocolate hills” wherein one hill was demolished for a water project and another for quarrying.
Today the DENR and the PAMB (Protected Area Management Bureau) mandate that “only 20 percent of land mass of a hill considered as a Chocolate Hill may be used or developed in a title lot including the hill”.
Today, the provincial Capitol is busy investigating two resorts, namely, the “Captain’s Peak” and the “Bud Agta” resorts- (the first one has cottages, a swimming pool with water slides, and a road that leads to the resort )- whether they are in compliance with the “20 Percent Rule”.
Environmental purists say the grandeur of Nature’s beauty is not enhanced by surrounding the Hershey-chocolate-like hills with water parks, ziplines and the like. Alone, the over a thousand coned hills, are already beautiful by themselves.
Another imperiled UNESCO favorite- is the Danahon Double Barrier Reef, a rare ecological format, that has been slowly fish-depopulated by overfishing (even by dynamite) and the destruction of the coral reefs. It is the richest in coral diversity (500 species representing 75% of the total coral family) but the most endangered.
So threatened it has been, that from 2003-2010, a USAID-funded project “Fish” was implemented for the conservation of marine life. By September last year, the Bohol Danahon Bank Double Barrier Reef Management Council reacted by forming (with the DENR, BFAR) and about 10 Bohol municipalities to protect 1,800 reef fish species therein.
They include Bien Unido, Buenavista, Clarin, Getafe, Inabanga, Carlos P Garcia, Talibon, Trinidad, Tubigon and Ubay.
And what about Bohol’s forest cover which is to help protect people from air pollutant emissions? In 2010, 51 percent of Bohol’s land area was covered by forests or 108 hectares but lost 303 hectares of forests by 2022. From 2013 to 2022, Bohol’s loss in tree cover involved plantations. People, however, continue to mercilessly cut trees to this day. The Boholanos’ collective tree planting activities just cannot keep up with the denudation of greens.
Recently, Shell Petroleum and ForestView Realty were asked to plant 4,000 trees by the city Legislature (as recommended by the DENR) for their wanton cutting of 4 centuries-old acacia trees along Baguio Drive in Taloto, Tagbilaran City to give way to a gasoline station. Well and good. But how about the hundreds of illegal tree-cutters now that still get away with deforestation with wanton abandon?
Finally, Bohol’s fabulous diving sites starting with the Balingcasag area have been slowly destroyed by too many divers, especially before the pandemic when the 5 diving sites on that island had 500 dives each day. Too many human diving activities result in unwanted chemicals being dumped, sand being disturbed, and resulting in fatally covering the corals and causing their destruction by the divers’ pesky touching and kicking.
The interlude of diving during the pandemic was the only reason that marine life has been slowly resuscitated in the Balingcasag diving area. It is a good thing that the Panglao Divers Association (PADO) has also henceforth limited it to 60 dives per site today or 300 dives in total.For good measure, an outfit of the Philippine Coast Guard has also been set up on the island.
The reef along beauteous Anda town stretching to Guindulman with 30 varied diving sites show a lot of promise and so are five other coastal municipalities with diving potential. They have been told to act in concert before they go Balingcasag’s way in terms of fish and coral destruction. Or destroy exactly what divers are looking for.
The moves above summarize Bohol’s quick response to the clear and present danger that threatens the intrinsic components of its being a UNESCO Geopark. The residents recognize that for far too long greed and pure hedonism have been allowed to make man unduly take advantage of nature’s gems to their future- perhaps fatal- detriment.
*** (Bingo Dejaresco, a former banker, is a financial consultant and media practitioner. He is a Life and Media member of Finex. His views here, however, are personal and do not necessarily reflect those of Finex. Dejarescobingo@yahoo.com)