Ben Madilynn
FOLLOWING a coral vandalism incident at Puntod Island, also known as Virgin Island, the Bohol Provincial Government has suspended all water-based activities indefinitely on the island.
The Provincial government announced the development in an advisory posted on its official Facebook page on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024.
Under this advisory, all water-based activities are prohibited except for gleaning, while boat passage to Balicasag Island remains permitted.
Fish cage operations by the Danao United Fishermen’s Association within the Panglao Island Protected Seascape (PIPS) will continue as usual.
The decision was made during a special meeting of the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) held on Friday, Sept. 6, where various issues concerning the management of the PIPS were discussed.
Bohol Gov. Erico Aristotle Aumentado, who also reshared the temporary closure advisory on his Facebook page, supported the closure.
He cited recommendations from a joint report conducted by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Bohol Provincial Environment and Management Office, and the Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office of Panglao.
The report’s recommendations include screening and training local guides, strictly enforcing snorkeling ordinances, banning nonaccredited agencies, and deploying 24-hour Bantay-Dagat personnel to protect the area.
Gov. Aumentado took to social media to call out a group of foreign tourists with tour guides and a boatman who uploaded a video of them snorkeling and vandalizing corals on Virgin Island, a top diving spot in Bohol.
Several names were etched on the corals that generated negative comments from several netizens.
Aumentado, in a Facebook post on Sept. 4, 2024, announced a P200,000 reward for any informant about the boatman and guides seen in the video.
“Naa natay information sa boatman ug tour guides sa maong video. Rest assured naay proper investigation para ani. Daghang salamat,” reads a portion of Aumentado’s post.
(We already have information about the boatman and tour guides in the video. Rest assured, a proper investigation will be conducted for this. Thank you very much.)
Reactions
Meanwhile, the closure garnered various reactions from netizens.
One Facebook user commented that the move is good so the island can be rehabilitated, while another netizen commented that it was unfair for all other tourist guides and boatmen.
“Kana maayo na para malimpyo sa pod na ang Virgin Island kay mura’g dili na virgin kay overuse na kaayo samutan pa sa mga way puangod nga tourist makaguba og corals (That’s good because it will help clean up Virgin Island, which seems no longer “virgin” due to overuse, especially with inconsiderate tourists damaging the corals),” reads one comment. / JBB, WBS
