ALONA Beach on Panglao Island in Bohol has been closed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) from July 1 to 15 due to high coliform levels.

Named after a sexy actress popular in the 1970s, Alona Beach is the bread and butter of many resorts on Panglao Island, which is currently among the few destinations in the country open for leisure travel.

This underscores the urgent need for the Bohol provincial and municipal governments to resume their infrastructure projects including the construction of sewerage treatment plants, said a highly-placed government source.

The closure of Alona Beach was announced by Panglao Municipal Tourism Officer Leonides E. Senica in a letter to stakeholders on June 30, 2021. However, he only attributed the beach closure "to the scheduled conduct of scientific study or personnel from the [DENR] and the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB)."

Government and private sector sources, however, cited information from the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources of Bohol that analysis of water samples taken from the beach showed "high fecal coliform levels . . .  at 700-800 most probable number/100 milliliters." This far exceeds the fecal coliform standard of 100 mpn/100 ml. Coliform or e.coli bacteria are found in human feces.

Bohol Gov. Arthur Yap has been promoting Panglao Island for tourism, and undertaking steps to ensure guests will feel safe by pushing for the vaccination of its tourism workers. (See, "Island destinations gear up for entry of foreign tourists," in the BusinessMirror, June 21, 2021.)

'No swimming'

Separately, information received by Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat from the Bohol provincial government and shared with the BusinessMirror said, "The closure came about as an offshoot of the meeting with DENR-EMB and LGU Panglao.  EMB recommended closing the Alona beach area for swimming (day and night) when they collected samples [because] there were picnickers/night swimmers in tents, and [there was no] CR so probably, their waste [were] directly discharged [to the sea] which may have contributed to the high count of fecal coliform in the sampling sites. Mayor [Leonila] Montero acted on the recommendation of the EMB, and thus the Notice PA, though the LGU [clarified that] only swimming is not allowed for two weeks. Restaurants and bars are open."

In his letter, Leonides prohibited "picnicking, swimming or engaging in any sea-related activities along the shoreline of Alona Beach" during the closure period. He said diving, snorkeling, fishing "beyond 200 meters from the shoreline" may continue, along with the continued operation of restaurants and bars as well as as accommodation facilities along the beach.

"We strongly encourage you to offer and bring your guests to other areas of the municipality like in Libaong, Bolod, Doljo, Tangnan, Balicasag, and in Momo beach," he added.

From January to June 2021, visitor arrivals on Panglao Island reached 11,980, a fall of some 76.6 percent from the same period in 2020. Of total guest arrivals in the first half of the year, 11,754 were domestic travelers, and 226 were foreigners, as per data from DOT-Region 7.

This is not the first time high coliform levels were recorded in Alona Beach and the waters surrounding Panglao Island. A swimming ban was imposed  in Panglao in November 2018 by the interagency task force composed of the heads of the DENR, Department of the Interior and Local Government and Department of Tourism, but was lifted just two days later. (See, Swimming ban slapped on 2 Panglao, El Nido sites," November  30, 2018.)

In an earlier press conference, Gov. Yap said the infrastructure activities to rehabilitate Panglao Island, including the construction of STPs, were put on hold due to Covid-19.

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