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Tourism chief warns Cebu hotels and resorts


Cebu Daily News
First Posted 15:27:00 05/05/2008

CEBU CITY, Philippines - The tourism industry in the provinces of Cebu and Bohol will be adversely affected if commercial establishments such as resorts and hotels fail to implement environmental conservation practices, a senior tourism official said on Friday.

Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Joseph “Ace” Durano issued the warning after a Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) report showed eight of nine resorts in the east coast of Mactan Island in Cebu and Panglao Island in Bohol were found to have high levels of fecal coliform.

Fecal coliform include the bacteria that are of fecal origin. The total coliform bacteria test is a primary indicator of suitability for consumption of drinking water. It measures the concentration of total coliform bacteria associated with the possible presence of disease causing organisms.

The DENR report said these resorts failed to meet the standard of 200 mg per liter for fecal coliform and 1,000 mg per liter for total coliform in each station, according to results of tests done during the last quarter of 2007.

“Coliform, that is a by-product of liquid waste, does not pass through the sewerage system,” said Durano. He added the report prompted DOT to accredit resorts based on their environmental practices.

“Most of the hotels have a sewer system but it goes beyond that,” Durano told reporters at the School of The SEAs (Sea and Earth Advocates) in Barangay (village) Okoy in Sta. Fe town on Bantayan Island on Friday.

Durano stressed that hotels and resorts, through the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Green Hotel Standard program, are not just accredited by the DOT based on the facilities available but also on their environmental practices.

“What we have is the Green Hotels and Resorts program, an ASEAN-wide program. We are the ones implementing it here in the Philippines,” he said.

Durano said there are only two Philippines-based establishments that are recognized for its eco-friendly practices; the Shangri-La Mactan Resort and Spa in Cebu and the El Nido Resort in Palawan.

Criteria for the Green Hotels and Resorts program include adopting policies and practices that promote energy and water efficiency, management of solid wastes, control of noise pollution, indoor and outdoor air quality management and proper treatment of wastewater.

“Ang DOT, our power is the market power. We don't have police power. So, aside from the Green Hotel campaign we are campaigning to tourists to choose Green Hotels,” said Durano.

“For me, that is the most powerful tool or the most powerful change agent. For us to tell resorts to change the way they operate,” he added.

Durano said if there are enough tourists that choose resorts and hotels that are involved in measures to save the environment, this would be “the greatest motivation for the (other) hotels and resorts to change.” /Editorial Assistant Bernadette A. Parco

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