Is Boracay on the verge of over-development?*

Turquoise waters claw its way to the powdery white shores.  In the distance, sailboats—of blue, white, yellow colours like paper boats glide over the never-ending sea horizon.  Crystal waters embrace you, cooling your skin against the beat of the sun…

It’s easy to lose yourself in this paradise.  A place of escapism, ecstasy, adventure…with anything-goes kind of place, the island is a world on its own.  Boracay seems to have a paradoxical effect on people--of the calm pristine waters enchanting you by day, and the rapture and frenzy at night that leaves you mired in confusion…

Boredom is an unwelcome guest.  You can play under the sun from snorkeling, to diving, swimming, surfing, and island hopping.

In every corner stall, you’ll find a storm of tourists and locals alike bargaining over freshwater pearls, painting henna tattoos, massage parlours decked out by the beach in mini-huts and a string of boutique stores cluttered at the D*Mall in Station 2, where you can pretty much find anything you need.

With their touch of European influence to traditional Filipino style cuisine, it leaves your palate wanting for more…and as you pass restaurants at night, fresh catch of lobsters, prawns and fish are on full display. 

The energy of bars and clubs strewn along the beachfront is infectious.  Clearly, the once agricultural farming community has found its niche, using tourism as the driver of their economy.

Still, my lingering questions about its fast-paced development keep on resurfacing--

While banners promoting a clean and green Boracay are splattered everywhere, the implementation of such rules are always an issue.  It seems that much of the enforcement is left to the residents and local police officials.  For instance, they are the ones who remind tourists that smoking by the beachfront is forbidden.    Once, a local spoke to me how immaculate the island once was—and that it’s quite different now due to the rapid changes in development. 

How long can this paradise last?  Will it be forever?

Let’s not forget the 1997 disaster when Long Beach waters were contaminated due to inadequate sewage treatment that scared tourists away.   The absence of a satellite office of the local Department of Environment and Natural Resources and lack of designated officials monitoring the activities, may lead Boracay to its gradual deterioration. 

My suspicions reached its climax by Saturday midnight when the entire island went blackout.   Hotel managers explained that power outage is becoming more frequent because of the lack of electricity supply.  It seems that the infrastructure in place is beginning to reach its carrying capacity.

  

Sure, Boracay is better off with tourism than without, but has this free market capitalism promoted real equitable economic benefits to all?

The owners of booming businesses definitely rake in the money, the municipal government officials also make their cut, but the local population is relegated to lower positions withdrawn from any bargaining power.   Even with increased revenues and employment opportunities, without higher education and training, the people of Boracay will remain vulnerable to the highly competitive labour market.

If Boracay ever wants to retain its Paraiso quality, multi-stakeholders such as developers, entrepreneurs, including the civil society and its municipal government might have to rethink its tourism development strategy and consider a more responsible destination development—one that is sustainable.

 *no photos...unreliable camera stopped working-- time to get a new one!

Life in Maynila

Standing outside my condo balcony overlooking the city, you can see the poolside water mirroring the blue sky.  Piercing high-rise buildings and condominium complexes are sprouting over the horizon.

The heat is tempered by the rain showering the city instantaneously—until the sun shines brightly again. 

In exploring some of the city sights, palm-tree lined streets in high end hot spots like Greenbelt, Bonifacio High Street and Eastwood Plaza glittered with luxurious boutique stores and open concept resto-bars and lounges make you think you’re in LA, or as some would even compare it to Singapore.

Maynila is not just a city, rather a conglomerate of cities composed of many districts each with their own personalities and colour.  But one thing is for sure: Malls are the life of the city.  I live across Shangri-La Mall Plaza, that’s right next to SM Mega Mall, dwarfed by Mall of Asia, the third largest mall in Asia.  Of course, these giants are surrounded by a clutter of smaller malls.  Small by Philippine standards. 

But plunked next to those places brimming with wealth and opulence are the nitty gritty informal settlements peppered across the city…mostly growing along the Pasig River.  This is not uncommon in developing countries, as the disparity between the rich and poor get wider, grow starker, and where economic growth does not necessarily translate to better quality of life for the lower-income groups/neighbourhoods.

The crazy traffic, noise level, hustle and bustle of people filtering through the streets, cab drivers winding across unfamiliar roads, gigantic malls sprawling at every corner felt like going through this odd a sense of familiarity and strange newness of things.  Although, I was born and raised here, sometimes seeing what has changed, and what hasn’t, is still a change for me, and adjustments have to be made. 

GETTING MUGGED AT TOMAS MORATO AVENUE

As soon as we stepped off the cab, a swarm of street-kids selling cigarettes and Sampaguita flowers hovered around us as we tried to inch our way through the alley to hit Dolce Club on Tomas Morato Avenue in Quezon City.

Fifteen seconds later, there was quick exchange of hands, and my bag felt lighter.

I looked inside and my wallet and Blackberry were gone.

In a panic zone, scenes flashed across my eyes…

As we were standing in front of the Starbucks, a man yelled out and pointed at one of the kids….

Startled, the wide-eyed kid escaped and ran frantically across the rotunda and next thing you know, Elliot* was after him…

Twenty minutes later, a string of Barangay patrols (Community patrol officers) on their mini motorcycles were combing through the area.  And in another ten, or maybe another 40 minutes (I think I lost track of time) my credit and debit card was back in my hands. 

A wave of relief crashed over me.  For some reason, I was surprisingly both amused and upset because here we were, our first night out in Manila, and we’re dealing with more than 12 patrol officers ganging up together to recover the stolen items…

The rest of my stuff was gone, as it was passed from one mugger to another.  Tracing the culprit was next to impossible.

Alas, in my head, Andrew Plunkett’s voice echoed something he mentioned during the pre-departure session… “We can replace your stuff but we can’t replace you”

*another intern.  Irem was also with us that night.

KM is crosscutting...

The series of activities and events for the Local Government Code celebration gave me a sense of how knowledge management is at work.  This celebration called Biyaheng Pinoy Tapat na Palakad, Bayang Maunlad, translates to something like “Filipino journey, right path leads to a progressive nation”.

 It was a great learning process to participate in a large conference made of people, built with expertise and experience, coming together to showcase their economic development strategies; to voice out their concerns and challenges within their own municipalities or region; to talk about contentious issues across all levels of government; and to cite recommendations to those obstacles. 

KM is about sharing best practices…

The LGSP-LED conference highlighted best practices in financing of LGUs for LED.  The roundtable discussions highlighted key priority areas that need assessments/institutional or policy reforms from the national level, while addressing the challenges of the LGUs at the local level.  Knowledge-sharing of ideas helped us develop possible solutions to those challenges/hindrances that hamper efforts to local economic development. 

In putting together the comprehensive summary report for the LGSP-LED conference, the consolidated group discussion outputs found that from the national level, the absence of clear policies from the national government in empowering LGUs alliances to apply for financing their projects is a hindrance to LED.  But from the local standpoint, the lack of knowledge for financing opportunities and lack of technical capacity in implementation of initiatives are just a few of their problems.

But KM also cuts through policy and institutional reforms…

The DILG policy forum made up of government officials, academe and other stakeholders met to discuss LGU code amendments.  One of the sessions talked about crisis management, specifically the Hong Kong hostage fiasco that was splattered all over the media.  It addressed ways it could have been prevented, and the different strategies that must be employed in order shift the reactive response to a pro-active approach in dealing with terrorism and hostage-taking.  There was also a lot of talk about disaster risk reduction strategies to mitigate the negative impact of typhoons, landslides, flooding and other natural calamities that hits the country.

In the conferences, meetings, forums, and roundtable discussions, KM was embedded in the process.  There was collaboration.  Knowledge-sharing.  Knowledge-creation.   Innovation and Partnerships.

With big ideas, you have to start small…

Knowledge Management isn’t a new concept in the Philippines. But it seems that its practice is uneven across the board.  Some have introduced KM in the HR department, oriented to relationship-building and customer service; while others have installed KM in the IT division in their departments because KM is about developing online publications, websites, and video clips.  But most LGUs don’t really know what it is.

In 2006, KM was introduced to the Department of Interior and Local Governance (DILG) as part of integrating their knowledge portal and organizational systems, specifically using KM tools in their local economic development (LED) efforts.  The Local Government Resource Centres (LGRCs) are used as a springboard for KM. 

But just what is KM?  It’s not just about databases, website development, publication of collection of reports and best practices.  It’s about knowledge-creation; sharing of ideas amongst multi-stakeholders; using knowledge and evaluating information/practices to improve processes in the future. Really, it’s getting the right knowledge to the right people at the right time. 

I learned that many Local Government Units (LGUs) are already doing this, although they do not have a uniform systematic process in place to increase their productivity and increase their rate of innovation.

For example, access to water may be an issue in a small municipality.  If KM is not embedded in their processes, the mayor will have difficulty in solving the issue.  If KM was built into their processes, the mayor may find answers to the following questions:

Where can I find help?  What has been done before?  Are there donors?  What are the possible solutions if this has happened before? 

Still, KM is not without a share of critics.  In talking with the staff here and reading materials, I’ve outlined some possible reasons why KM hasn’t taken off:

1. Lack of Awareness or Understanding of what it is.  KM is a rather large concept that is hard to define.  Even once understood, embedding it into their LED processes takes time.
2. They do not understand its benefits.  They may understand the concept but many LGUs prioritize other concerns facing their municipalities/regions. 
3. Job security issues. There is a fear that converging KM with other units may lead to job losses. 
4. It’s not mandated.  If there are more practical issues to deal with, KM is likely seen as a cost rather than a cost-saving measure.

As a KM officer, I am hoping that I can be part of this new wave of synergy—of changing mindsets, of strengthening partnerships and collaboration; and of tapping and sharing new and old knowledge.