INTERVIEW | BORACAY CLOSURE | SENATE OF THE PHILIPPINES

(start of recording)

Q: Ano po ang masasabi niyo tungkol sa total closure ng Boracay starting April 26 kung saan 36,000 jobs ang at risk at 56 billion ang mawawala?

SEN WIN: Ang importante ngayon for DOLE to come out with a strategy na mabigyan ng temporary work ang 36,000 na employees, immediately implement a cash for work program. Yung ibang nagtatrabaho doon ay puwede nilang gamitin sa construction dahil maraming construction ang gagawin at yung mga maliliit na negosyo doon I think ay pwede namang mag-operate dahil ang mga nagtatrabaho ay pwedeng kumain doon sa maliliit na negosyo. Ang importante ngayon ay magkaroon ng strategy ang DOLE para hindi magkaroon ng displacement sa 36,000 na empleyado sa Boracay.

Q: Are you in favor of the total closure because some Senators are saying na puwede namang partial closure lang.

SEN WIN: In my opinion, what they described, what the DILG described, the activities can be conducted by partial closure or a closure of different segments of Boracay. For example, kung demolition ang gagawin, i-demolish muna ang mga areas na obviously ay lumalabag sa regulasyon ng pamahalaan. You have to put yourself in the shoes of the business owners, kasi kung wala silang revenue, wala silang pang-sweldo, kung walang pang-sweldo, walang panggastos o pambili ng mga basic necessities ang mga empleyedo. Mahirap rin sa mga negosyo na mawalan ng revenue kahit one day lang dahil napakahirap nang bumalik. In my opinion, I think the best strategy will be a segment closure or a partial closure para ang ibang mga negosyo ay nakakapag-operate pa at alam naman nating maraming mga negosyo rin ang sumunod. So ang nangyayari ngayon, pati ang mga sumunod ay nape-penalize rin dahil sa mga hindi sumusunod. but I think right now the best strategy is to focus on the welfare of the employees because marami sa kanila ay ito lang ang pinagkikitaan.

Q: May sense po ba ng calamity funds? Will it be used for dole out?

SEN WIN: It can be. It can be used for dole out, it can be used for cash for work, ang pinakamabilis dito ay ang cash for work program which is mabibigyan ng sweldo ang mga nagtatrabaho roon in exchange for the construction and activities na gagawin ng gobyerno. Immediate ito and since the area will be declared under the state of calamity, immediately pwedeng gamitin ang calamity funds para matulungan ang mga tao. Ang importante, again, para sa akin, ang utmost concern should be the welfare of the people dahil 36,000 na mga employees na yan, i-multiply mo pa by 2, mahigit 70,000 ang mga taong mawawalan ng livelihood.

Q: How about yung impact naman noon sa economy ng Aklan?

SEN WIN: I think, Boracay has developed a name for itself. Ang forecast ko, in after 6 months, it will take another 3 months to recover. Those big corporations like Shangri-la, Discovery, mabilis silang makaka-recover pero doon sa mga medium-sized to small, it will take time for them dahil nga kahit naman walang negosyo yan, for example revenue, meron pa silang mga gastusin, may mga overhead pa yan, for example, kuryente at tubig, suppliers. Ang importante pa ngayon ay hindi na paabutin ng six months ang closure, if they can do it in 3 months, for example ang demolition sa tingin ko hindi kailangan ng six months yan eh, you can demolish illegal constructions in two weeks, in 14 days, tapos buksan na agad. You don't have to wait for the entire construction to finish, pwede ring buksan segment by segment para ma-cooperate na ang island.

Q: Sir ang sabi ng Cebu Pacific, halos nasa 200 thousand ang nawala dahil sa cancelled flights so that means hindi lang negosyo sa Panay ang apektado, pati rin dito sa Metro Manila.

SEN WIN: Yes. Alam ko ang Cebu Pacific flies almost 15 times a day to Caticlan, of course may flights din pa-Kalibo, so the entire airline industry siguro aabot yan ng 150 flights a day to and and from Boracay and Kalibo. Of couse, kapag nag-scale down ka ng flights, mag sca-scale down ka rin ng operations mo at magbabawas ka rin ng tao. So six months talaga has a lot of economic impact that's why the sooner we can open Boracay, the better for the entire industry and like I said, hindi naman kailngan hintayin ang six months bago buksan ang Boracay, after a small segment in 15 days pwedeng buksan na yun, kung matapos ang another segment in 30 days then buksan na yun so slowly nag-o-operate na ang Boracay.

Q: Sir, would you recommend kung magkaroon ng mas klarong plano like alternatives kung saan pupunta kasi kung yung mga foreigners pupunta lang talaga ng Pilipinas para sa Boracay, would you recommend na pumunta pa rin sila rito kahit na hindi sa Boracay?

SEN WIN: I think Boracay has achieved international recognition year after year, top 5 siya in terms of beaches around the world kaya may international recognition na siya kaya we are confident it will bounce back definitely. Forecast ko nga after six months, in three months operational na ulit ang Boracay in terms of tourist arrivals but then again, we have to ease the pain of the businesses especially the pain of the employees. That's why the government should employ a strategy na bilisan at buksan segment by segment, at ang cash for work program ay ma-implement na kaagad even ngayon kung bago siguro magsara ay gumagawa na ng plano kung paaano ma-implement ang cash for work dahil yun ang pinakamabilis na programa para matulungan ang mga kababayan natin doon na mawawalan ng livelihood.

Q: The President is known to ask for extensions on war on drugs, martial law, would you recommend Sir?

SEN WIN: No, I don't think it necessitates extensions because predictable naman ang gagawin. Alam na nati ilan ang lumabag at ilan ang gigibain na facilities doon, alam natin kung gaano kahaba ang infrastructure, alam natin na kailangang ikabit ang mga hotel sewage systems. Alam natin pahahabain pa ang mga sewage systems so everything is predictable so gagamitin ang calamity fund. so may pondo na, ang kailngan lang talaga ngayon ay ma-implement na ang plano kaagad, we cannot afford to delay this because ang nakasalalay dito ang pangkabuhayan ng mga kababayan natin doon.

Q: Isn't it a heartless decision on the part of the President na instead of going through the hassles of calamity funds, mga jobless people, yung sabi niyo nga na partial closure na lang?

SEN WIN: I'm trying to understand the rationale of the DILG, I think the rationale here is to implement this as quick as possible and to do it, dapat less ang distractions, dapat less ang obstruction so ang rationale nila kung may mga turista na naglalakad doon, delikado kung may construction na nangyayari so I think that is their rationale. I respect that rationale, although in my view, it can be done through a partial closure so ang appeal na lang natin ay alagaan ang mga nagtatrabaho doon and I think that was also a part of the overall strategy na mabigyan kaagad ng tulong ang mga nagtatrabaho doon.

(end of recording)