By Ped Quiamjot
THE diminutive and tireless director of the tourism department in Region 13, Letty Tan, has been shuttling around Caraga, including the cities of Butuan, Surigao, and Cagayan de Oro in Region 10, meeting prospective special interest groups of tourists and would-be tourism investors. She is promoting a beautiful location in the northeastern part of Surigao del Norte known as Siargao to world attention as the top wave surfing destination in Asia.
Siargao is a place not well-recognized in the Philippines but famous among European, New Zealander and Australian wave surfers who regularly compete in the Siargao Annual Cup during the month of October in General Luna, Surigao del Norte.
As early as September, foreign travelers and local visitors looking for a bit of excitement troop to the island sub province either for vacation or sports fishing expedition. Siargao has bountiful species of marine aquatics in around 13 thousand miles of seawater and its turbulent waves generated from the Pacific Ocean is the most challenging ride in the world.
In 2012, the Department of Tourism’s arrival statistics for Region 13 registered a growth of 20 percent, higher than the arrival figures of 2011. Two of the most sought after destination, Butuan and Siargao Island, surprisingly showed a tourist daily expense of US$70 to US$225 per day. Nowhere in Mindanao have foreigners and local visitors shown such spending power. What is the tourism product of the region and what is the guests’ profile?
Two years ago, a relationship manager of a credit card company, who has been to the region, was surprised to find out that her merchants’ turnover reached P38 million in October of 2010, higher than the credit card charges in the whole of Region 10, with Cagayan de Oro as the center of commerce. Caraga on that year contributed P4.1 billion to the tourism receipts of the Philippines. With a 20-percent growth for 2012, how much could have been contributed by Butuan, Surigao City and Siargao to the Philippines’ GDP which registered a 7.1-percent growth in the 3rd quarter of last year?
Foreign travel to the Caraga has been jointly fueled by the mining and mineral exploration aside from the growth of eco-tourism.
These two sectors do not mix well in the economy––one is a lethal source of destruction while the other is a potent force to inspire environmental protection. They co-exist under a temporary arrangement of a love-hate relationship that would soon part ways if no demarcation lines are set by the government. Signs of sea water discoloration have shown in the mainland coastal communities from the mountain soils that are slowly eroded downstream. Coastal villages formerly enjoying abundant catch of shellfish are showing signs of mud siltation while populated areas are now visited by flashfloods during the monsoon season.
Expanding cities in Caraga have welcomed the entry of big subdivision developers and golf course construction projects. Former rice paddy fields have passed the conversion process from agricultural to residential erasing irrigation canals and small tributaries in the process displacing the blue crabs and the crane herons from their habitat. The sounds of frogs mating in the paddy ponds have long disappeared and now replaced by the roaring engines of the backhoes dredging the grounds for road and drainage.
Sadly, living creatures like crabs, herons and frogs do not contribute to the economy of Butuan and Surigao. The government welcomes more instead the mining and real estate developers to create more mineral exports and housing to increase its tax revenue from and fund various projects.
Never mind if we are a signatory to the United Nations’ General Assembly to Eco-Tourism as a key to eradicating poverty and protecting the environment. It calls for UN member states to adopt policies that promote eco-tourism highlighting its impact on income generation, job creation and education creating opportunities for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.
Government planners might have forgotten that whenever there is a boom a crash will follow. What goes up will go down?