I called for immediate steps last week to stop the deterioration of Boracay’s ecosystem not to drive tourists away and to preserve the island’s world-famous beaches. Boracay, however, is not the only beach destination in the Philippines. So measures should also be taken to prevent other beaches from suffering the same decline. Preventive measures are less expensive and easier to implement compared to repair and recovery efforts. Boracay alone is not enough to sustain the tourism boom. The Philippines must promote more destinations to attract more visitors. It must exploit the natural advantage of having an archipelago of more than 7,000 islands, which offer an almost limitless variety of getaway spots. Global news leader CNN noted in an online report in 2014 that the Philippines had “some of the world’s most diverse marine life… and most of them are relatively unexplored.” Continue reading...
