Why Foreign Tourists Come to Negros Oriental

      Why do foreign tourists come to Dumaguete and southern Negros Oriental? The answer is, because they find natural attractions, beautiful sceneries, aesthetically satisfying views of nature, and opportunities to learn new things and to study the local environment.

      What are the attractive things that Negros Oriental offers to visitors? First, there is Apo Island, off Dauin, the pride of the Philippines, where the coral reef ecosystem typical of reefs found in the Indo-West Pacific region has been preserved, protected and maintained for more than 20 years by the community of Apo Island and the local government of Dauin municipality with the assistance of Silliman University. Here, the visitors swim in the clear water and admire the varieties of fish and other marine creatures including turtles, Spanish dancers, sea urchins, sea squirts, coral colonies, etc., all set in their near pristine natural environment which has developed in harmony with the seasons, the currents, the waves, the tides for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. No wonder these visitors willingly pay for the privilege of looking at a snapshot of an unspoiled marine environment. Do you know that Apo earns no less than $35,000 a year from divers’ fees alone and a total of $200,000 a year from boat rentals, resort accommodation and high fish catches outside of their marine sanctuary? This amount is exclusive of donations for scholarship for Apo students. Apo Island earns because it has been protected! It is to the credit of the provincial government that it has replicated the Apo model of development in more than 20 sites in the province, where the natural coastline and the underwater seascape are protected. Our lesson here is that beautiful natural spots can be made to earn money for people.

      Another site in Basay town has its own coral reef marine reserve that was described in video by ABS/CBN recently. It has some natural features that can attract tourists if the national road in the western part of the island is maintained in good condition. In addition, Basay has limestone caves harboring unique animals that evolved there over the last 1000 years or so. The local government is protecting one such cave that was also featured in video by ABS/CBN. These attractions have potentials to earn money for the people in this municipality.

      The Silliman Marine Laboratory runs educational exhibits on the natural environment around Negros Oriental. These exhibits depict the richness of our seas that is often ignored or taken for granted by people. It is a joy to see truckloads of visitors, including tourists and students coming from all parts of Negros, viewing these exhibits. It is also a tribute to our foreign friends and supporters that they have invested funds in the development of the laboratory to cater to the needs of scientists, Filipinos and other nationalities alike. This facility came into being with little, if any, indigenous support. Yet it serves Dumaguete, Negros Oriental, the Philippines, and even the world. The impact of the Laboratory’s research and educational program on the minds and values of students cannot be overemphasized. We invite public officials to visit the Laboratory to know more about the environment of the province. I am sure they will learn new things.

      Foreign tourists do not come to the Philippines to see piles of uncollected garbage and trash on the streets. They hate to see ugly man-made alterations of the natural environment. They do not want to breathe polluted air and to drink water with amoebae. They do not come to find out how good are our hotels, our public buildings, our piers, our ports, etc. They do not want to see unnatural, man-made structures like reclamations. They do not like to see dredged portions of coastlines. They do not like to see structures that interfere with natural processes. They in fact do not care much for infrastructures, as these are common in their own countries. They prefer to sleep in airy bamboo huts or even on open sandy beaches. They want to see new things, those they do not see or have in their countries. They would like to see different plants, different animals, different forests, unique rock formations.

      Does anyone still wonder why tourism is directly dependent on the high quality of the environment? Does anyone still doubt the economic value of a protected environment?

Reply to Philippine Ports Authority

      I would like to reply to the comments of PPA on two issues dealt with in my earlier note: (1) the seaward extension of the airstrip which has been shown to cause beach erosion, and (2) the pollution of the marine water in front of the boulevard.

      It is a fact that beach erosion has occurred because of the seaward extension of the airstrip. The main point here is that building structures along coastlines causes the alteration of the direction, velocity and other characteristics of ocean currents, which may in turn cause unwanted effects on the shoreline. In the case of the airstrip, its extension caused accelerated erosion of Silliman beach. I am glad that PPA implied agreement with this cause and effect relationship. Invoking the observed effect mentioned above and the generally accepted precautionary principle, I am opposed to reclamation and I am predicting a similar effect of the proposed reclamation. The burden of proof that the proposed reclamation will not cause unwanted effects is with the PPA!

      The second argument of PPA is that since the seawater being proposed for reclamation is polluted, it is suitable for reclamation. Pollution is a side issue. It must be dealt with separately and is not relevant to the issue at hand. The proper solution to the problem of water pollution is for Dumaguete City to install a secondary treatment for sewage and domestic wastes. Pollution cannot justify reclamation in this case!

      A book entitled Harvesting Polluted Waters (1976, Plenum Press, New York) contains several articles on the use of polluted waters for aquaculture and mariculture purposes. If one believes what the expert authors of the various articles in this volume are saying, he can conclude that polluted waters are not that bad after all. Polluted waters may be productive of certain organisms like fish and shellfish, although it must be admitted these waters have a low species richness because only tolerant species are found in them. Biological studies have demonstrated that there are such species in our own seas. For example, one of the Marine Laboratory’s technicians, Dan Catada, used to catch large batfishes and rabbitfishes in the pier area. The water of the pier area, though polluted to a certain degree, harbors fishes. The reason is that water in the pier area circulates, and being continuous with the open sea, allow certain marine species, especially highly mobile fishes, to enter the area to exploit food sources. Pollutants are exported through ocean currents to the open sea and do not remain permanently in the water. So after all, like what the book says, polluted waters in the Dumaguete pier area can be harvested, of course with proper safeguards.

      The predicted potential fish productivity of one kilogram per square meter per year of shallow waters that I quoted earlier was based on the figures gathered from artificial reefs installed by the Central Visayas Regional Project in the mid-1980s and data of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources. A full documentation of the productivity of artificial reefs is given in the newsletter UNOS vol. 4, no. 1, 2001, published by the Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Research and Development, Los Baños, Laguna.

      I hope that our Dumaguete people will look at the issue of pier reclamation in terms of overall development and benefits, not just the income that will go, not to Dumaguete, but toward the national government.