The New Guidelines are for Future Establishments

The Department of Tourism says resort onwners have nothing to worry about.
Department of Tourism Director Roland Canizal speaks to Maxim...

TELL US ABOUT THE DOT MASTER PLAN FOR BORACAY ISLAND. WHAT IS THE  RATIONALE BEHIND IT?

The DOT is not in charge of the Boracay Island takeover. What we did was create a plan for the island, which we then submitted to the government for implementation, for whatever their plans are for the island.

Basically, the DOT provided guidelines for the establishments and their owners. These are mostly design guidelines, such as limiting the height og the structures to be beachfront they should be. Things like that. We also provided a zoning plan, to draw a clear line on where the tourist establishments should be located, the residential area, the place for future establishmnets, and so on.

This plan is intended for implementation to future establishmnets. Those already there will not be affected; if for example the building exceeds the height limit, it doesn't mean they have to tear it down. All that is there already will be left as is. The guidelines will only be applicable to them if and when they decide to modify their establishment in any way. When we speak in terms of rationale, our main focus, really, is to protect and preserve the island. All things pertaining to the DOT plan serve that purpose.

HOW WILL THIS PLAN BENEFIT THE BORACAY ISLAND?

Well, our goal is to provide certain guidelines to maximaize the use of Boracay Island as a tourist destination, to ensure sustainability, and to control future expansion. We want to preserve the beauty of Boracay Island, and to protect it from being too urbanized. Boracay Island is a beautiful island, and we want to make sure that it says that way.

HOW WILL THIS PLAN ADDRESS THE INTEREST OF LONG-TIME RESORT OWNERS? WILL IT DISPLACE ANYONE?

Just to be clear, there will be no displacement going on in so far as our plan is concerned. There have been no conflict of interests so far  with the resort owners there. As mentioned earlier, the plan is for futute establishments, and will not affect the present ones, except if they have to comply with the guidelines.

What we are designing is not a takeover per se. We're just aiming to provide a plan, guidelines for the local government unit to implement. People there will continue to operate as usual.

sources: MAXIM Magazine, March 2009 Issue