"Marina project dialogue is rewarding"
BY BOY RYAN B. ZABAL

KALIBO, Aklan - There appears to be a meeting of minds between the Aklan Sangguniang Panlalawigan, the provincial and local government officials and the stakeholders of Boracay concerning the proposed reclamation project in Barangay Caticlan and in the island of Boracay.
The Boracay Foundation, Inc. (BFI) and the local officials of Malay were invited for interaction in the 6th regular session of Aklan SP to assert their opposition against the construction of the Aklan Marina project.
Atty. Jonathan Bulos, officer-in-charge of EMB Legal and Environmental Education Division, said the type of project proposed by the provincial government is not an environmentally critical project, but it is located in an environmentally critical area.
“Considering the application is an expansion of the existing jetty port, which includes the reclamation, the EMB requires the Environmental Performance Report and Management Plan. Based on our review and evaluation, the documents are in order, the Department of Environment and Natura Resource (DENR), therefore, issued the Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC),” he stressed.

Provincial Engineer Victory Fernandez said the existing Caticlan jetty port was endorsed by the municipal government of Malay in October 1997 and was constructed in 2000 during the term of former Governor and now Congressman Florencio Miraflores.
The provincial government sourced its funds through a P40-million bond flotation for the construction of the jetty port and additional funding from the national government to complete the facility.
Now, the provincial government is expanding the Caticlan jetty port to cater the influx of tourists by reclaiming 2.6 hectares that would improve the existing facilities. The reclamation project is 100 meters away from the Caticlan jetty port for the Aklan Marina project.
It would extend 80 meters from the existing shoreline and would cover more or less 20,000 square meters with an all-weather port and floating breakwater to secure the Aklan Marina project.
Fernandez said the provincial government applied for foreshore lease agreement in 2008 with DENR for two areas that are adjacent to the existing jetty ports for about 3 hectares but opposed by the municipal government of Malay. They shifted their plan with the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA) and had applied for 2.6 hectares covering the area to the right of the Caticlan jetty port.
Fernandez stressed, before 2010, the province of Aklan targeted one million tourists for Boracay, reaching close to 700,000 visitors last year, but revised its projection until 2013. According to the records of the Caticlan Jetty Port, the facility is presently servicing 1.4 million visitors and traders.
“What is the need for expansion when the jetty port could accommodate more than a million tourists? I remember that SP member Rodson Mayor proposed a resolution two years ago for the regulation and transfer of roll-on roll-off vessels from Caticlan jetty port to one of the ports in Aklan that would greatly decongest the operations at the jetty port, and probably, there is no need to reclaim a portion of that area,” said Lowell Talamisan of BFI.
Caticlan jetty port administrator Nieven Maquirang said the existing facility is too small for both roro and Boracay-bound tourists, thus, in the proposed reclamation project, a new terminal building is needed to service the international and local travelers for Boracay.
Meanwhile, BFI officials are calling for a five-month suspension and an intensive study by an independent group of scientists of the proposed reclamation project.
Vice Governor and presiding officer Gabrielle Calizo-Quimpo, however, doubted the proposal is possible since thorough studies were already completed for the provincial government.
To allay the fears of BFI, Mayor has encouraged the provincial government officials to furnish the group of businessmen of their studies to enable them to get ready of their counter-study.
“The interactions turned out to be very rewarding and had guided the SP members to come out with win-win solutions. With this situation, I am amending my proposal to clarify the apprehensions of BFI embodied in their resolution and to support the Marina project of the provincial government of Aklan,” Mayor said.
Mayor said the legislative council had spoken by reiterating its collective support to the Marina project in Barangay Caticlan and the island of Boracay.

Talamisan also argued that Section 26 and Section 2 of the Local Government Code of 1991 require all national agencies and offices to conduct periodic consultations with the local government unit of Malay, stakeholders and residents the environmental impact of the project upon the people and the community and the measures that will be undertaken to prevent or minimize the adverse effects before the reclamation project is implemented.

However, SP member Mayor pointed out that provisions of the Local Government Code refers to the project funded by the national government authorities that require the consultations mentioned in Sections 2 (c) and 26 and prior approval of the Sangguniang Bayan.
Mayor said the facilities are solely funded by the provincial government through bond flotation to finance the P260-million project in Barangay Caticlan.