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Monday, April 21, 2003
Amante: Santander
By ISOLDE D. AMANTE
AS A sign of change, it isn’t much: just a heap of yellow boulders squatting some 20 meters from the shore. But for some residents of Liloan, Santander, these boulders are a constant reminder of a debate raging in this otherwise quiet seaside village.
At the center of the debate is a proposed P6-million jetty and terminal that Sail and Trail Transport Co. wants to build for roll-on roll-off cargo and passenger vessels connecting Cebu and Negros islands. When work began last month, pumpboat owners using the present wharf in Liloan—less than 300 meters from the project site—blocked a barge that was delivering boulders for the new wharf, reported Sun.Star’s Jeanette P. Malinao.
Mayor Wilson Wenceslao, who supports the new jetty ostensibly to break the transport monopoly that holds the town in its grip, accused Liloan Barangay Captain Jesus Cortes, an ally of the Abines clan, of leading the opposition to the new wharf, the report further said.
But one suspects it isn’t just concern for the environment or fears of a loss of livelihood that’s fueling the debate. Just as the sea sometimes conceals strong undercurrents beneath a placid surface, Santander, for all its vivid beauty, is a town with scars. The new wharf is as much about a changing of the guard, as it is about bringing in new business.
A resort operator, for instance, lamented that while he was supportive of the new Wenceslao administration, he and his fellow operators have their misgivings about how the new wharf could jeopardize business in the town’s tourism zone. And while they appreciate efforts to draw investments to Santander, one of Cebu’s 10 poorest towns for the past 10 years, they point out that there are other areas where a new wharf can be situated, without placing other businesses at risk.
In Liloan, the southernmost tip of the sliver that is Cebu Island, that business happens to be tourism.
Only four resorts operate there, for now, but word of mouth is slowly drawing visitors to Liloan’s cool, crystal-clear sea, its awe-inspiring sunsets and majestic night skies. (Certainly, for the local explorer, it is a far better deal than, say, Mactan’s overpriced, ersatz-white-sand beaches.) Access is easy: for P100 per head, the trip from Cebu City to Liloan takes only three hours by van, on good roads, with a fantastic view to boot. Lodgings in Liloan are reasonably priced, as is the seafood, which is fresh and abundant.
So while the mayor and the proponents of the new wharf insist the project has all the requisite clearances—as two signs also proclaim at the project site—concerns about how it might affect local tourism deserve airing. If one wharf, in one barangay, suffices as a link between Santander and Negros, why build another one so close by? As an avid admirer (and perhaps future retiree) of Liloan, Santander, I’d hate to see its beauty and potential marred by poor planning or a failure to consider contrary suggestions—never mind whose side of the political fence the critics are on.
One need not look far for a model. In Apo Island, off neighboring Negros Oriental, sustained efforts from academia, local government and private resort operators have taught the community not only to earn from tourism, but more importantly, to protect the marine sanctuary that makes their island unique.
One need not look far for a cautionary tale either. In Barangay Pasil, Santander town’s Sanayon tourism facility has fallen, bit by bit, into decay and oblivion. A mere 10 years ago, the multi-million-peso complex was trumpeted as a convention and recreation center for the south. Instead, it has become a reminder of how people’s taxes and futures are frittered away by fickle, small-town political alliances, coupled with short-term planning and an aversion to all projects begun by or linked to one’s rivals.
(ida@sunstar.com.ph) |
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