BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — The Boracay crisis is not an isolated case, Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu admitted over the weekend. Cimatu said the serious degradation of the Boracay environment started in the 1990s when the tourism boom started without adequate pollution-control facilities, systems and safeguards in place. “When the rapid pace of development overwhelmed the carrying capacity of the environment and virtually relegated pollution control to an afterthought, the solution was practically to hide the solution, by flushing untreated wastewater directly into the seas,” Cimatu said. With the crackdown in Boracay and other leading ecotourism destinations underway, Cimatu said they are now sending the message that pollution control should be made a priority. “We will not allow violators to profit from poisoning our environment,” he said, adding that the continued laxity and complacency of recent decades will compromise the future.

Source: Philippine Star May 12, 2018 16:07 UTC