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BORACAY is one of the best beaches on Earth. I’ve visited other
much-esteemed seaside destinations such as Cannes and Monte Carlo in
the Côte d’Azur and Positano, Capri and Sorrento in the Amalfi
Coast (forever immortalized in the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald and
John Steinbeck respectively). As beguiling as the native
Mediterranean culture is and as breathtaking as their sights
are—the sand, the weather and water in these locations are
laughable for any Filipino who has waded the shores of Boracay or
any of our innumerable world-class beach and dive sites. May
pagyayabang tayo.
But I’m also old enough to know how much more
captivating Boracay was in its virgin years. Before mobile phone
signals and Internet access made the island accessible to all of
urban life’s troubles and concerns. Before malls and fast food
franchises made it indistinguishable from Manila. Before gaudy
trinkets and the hustlers who peddle them made it a seamy
post-colonial honky-tonk. Before golf courses and multiple story
hotels scarred the island. Before the relentless assault of tourists
trampled and snuffed whatever romance and quiet the beach held.
Boracay still boasts white sands as fine as
talcum powder, gentle waves, turquoise horizons, crystal-clear
waters and balmy weather. No doubt, Boracay is still a gorgeous
beach worthy of its gorgeous people. But those too young to have
seen the island decades ago don’t know what they have missed. They
have made a playground of a paradise lost.
Today in Boracay, you have one themed resort
after another: Balinese, Mediterranean, Jamaican, Hawaiian,
Californian, Thai and Indian. But it’s hard to find any that takes
pride in authentic Philippine culture, most especially native
Aklanon cuisine and handicrafts.
Most of today’s beach establishments—even
the more expensive ones—serve food that is bland and totally
bereft of any pride or passion. A lot of beachfront properties are
simply tacky and tastelessly designed. The trinkets and handicrafts
sold neither authentically represent Filipino culture nor artfully
showcase the best of our talents. It’s a damn shame.
The inns and cafes established by old time
expatriates boasted authentic cuisine from around the world—hence
French crepes, English breakfasts and Swiss delicatessens. There are
dive shops and restaurants than cater to specific nationalities such
as Korean or Japanese. But there seems to be no effort to attract
people with what makes Boracay truly unique and memorable.
Foreigners have allegedly grabbed prime land
through dummy corporations or insincere marriages to locals to allow
them to own property in the Philippines. Big-time developers
bulldoze and backhoe the island for golf courses, high-rise hotels
and other projects that deplete the island’s resources well beyond
its capacity to sustain.
Yet while these outsiders rake in the money, the
locals of Boracay have little to show after decades of global
tourism. If all they got was a paved road, tricycle business or
employment as a waitress, then they got a raw deal. Many Aklanons
are just settlers themselves.
The indigenous Ati who inhabited the island long
before the foreign concept of land titles was ever introduced are
now an estranged, impoverished and bitter minority who have been
relegated to a small corner of the island. It’s been said that,
arguably, everybody else is just a land grabber.
Tourists, especially local ones, have yet to
learn how to leave the beach as clean as it was. It seems we destroy
what ever we touch. We value who we are and what we have too
cheaply. I can’t help but wish sometimes that are most beautiful
places were a little less accessible or developed and its people a
little less hospitable or accommodating. We can learn from other
highly coveted tourist destinations on how their culture and natural
beauty has been preserved.
What Steinbeck noted about the natives of
Positano hold true today, hence the Positano’s enduring rustic
charm. He remarked that a “deterrent to a great influx of tourists
lies in the nature of the Posianese themselves. They just don’t
give a damn. They have been living here since before recorded
history and they don’t intend to change now. They don’t have
much but they like what they have and will not move over for a
buck.”
E-mail Culture Vulture at rome.jorge@
gmail.com or log on to http://blog.360.yahoo.com/hanepdesigns
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