DOT reg'l exec to mediate on Boracay conflict
The Department of Tourism has stepped in to settle the dispute between the Aklan provincial government and the Malay municipality over the collection of a P50 environmental fee paid by tourists going to Boracay Island.
Tourism regional director Edwin Trompeta said he has set a meeting with Aklan Gov. Carlito Marquez and Malay Mayor Ciceron Cawaling this week to settle the dispute to prevent further inconvenience to tourists.
Marquez on Sept. 1 barred the collection of the fee inside the passenger terminal at the jetty port in Caticlan, the jump off point to the island-resort. Marquez said the collection should be suspended until a memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the provincial and municipal governments on the collection and sharing of the proceeds is finalized.
But personnel of the municipal government have continued collecting the fee outside the building.
The collection of the environmental fee started in January last year after the municipal council passed an ordinance requiring all visitors of Boracay to the pay the fee. The collected amount will be used as a trust fund for projects and programs to protect and rehabilitate the fragile and threatened environment of the island.
Under the ordinance, 15 percent of the proceeds will go to the provincial government while the remaining amount will be the share of the municipal government. The ordinance provides that the collection and sharing of the proceeds will be governed by a MOA to be entered into by the province and municipality.
But Marquez said no MOA has been executed a year and seven months after the collection of the fee had started.
"We have not received our share because of absence of MOA. And we have not been given an official accounting of the collection," Marquez said in a telephone interview.
He said they have proposed a MOA but the municipal government has disagreed with the mechanics in the collection of the fee like the joint collection of all fees paid by tourists passing the terminal.
Municipal councilor Rowen Aguirre, chair of the council's committee on laws and regulations, said the disagreement stems from the conditions set by the provincial government "which is not related to the environmental fee."
He said Malay has collected around P33 million including P18 million in 2006 and P15 million from January to August this year. The municipality also collects the fee from tourists who do not pass by the jetty port.
Trompeta said the dispute is causing inconvenience to tourists who have to pay the fee outside the building and pay the terminal fee and boat fare when they get inside the terminal.
"It's not a good way to receive tourists," Trompeta said in a telephone interview.
He said the dispute would affect more tourists as more tourists are arriving starting next month and peaking during the summer.
Tourist arrivals last year reached 554,181 which is 10. 96 percent higher than 499,457 arrivals recorded in 2005, according to data from the regional office of the Department of Tourism. Tourists who visited the island from January to March this year reached 140,835 or 7.59 percent higher than the 130,897 tourist arrivals in the same period last year.
Boracay's income from tourism reached P10.18 billion last year or 24.44 percent higher than the P8.18 billion earnings in 2005.