If the government cannot do anything to improve our lives, it should not prevent others who volunteer to help. This was the observation given by villagers in three Panglao barangays whose livelihood have remained dormant even after the supposed tourism boom in the town. “Boom for them, not for us,” the villagers said in separate interviews. Villagers in the barangays of Poblacion, Doljo and Danao grumble that they have been left behind in the much-ballyhooed progress of the town. They acknowledge that the tourism industry is now a multi-million business but said this was meaningless to them because they remain dirt poor. “We are poorer than when the tourism boom started because our livelihood has been affected,” a villager in Danao said. He pointed out that except for fishermen particularly in barangays where the resorts are located, they have not felt it in their lives.

Some fishermen are even prevented from entering the resorts and their bancas are denied access to the beaches. “We are not resisting tourism and progress but it should not be at our expense” he added in Cebuano. The traditional fishing grounds have been reduced not only because of harmful fishing methods but also because tourism activities have taken over much of the sea. “The question is where does this leave us?” another fisherman asked. He pointed out that the government has not done anything to mitigate the impact of the dwindling income from fishing. Worse, they are even obstructing investments that could help them out of their miseries. “Politicians only remember us during the campaign,” he pointed out.

The fishermen are particularly restive over the failure of the provincial government to push through with the environmental study that was supposed to decide the fate of the controversial reclamation project. “It was the only tourism-related project that really took pains in telling us how we can benefit from it,” a fisherman who lives in the Poblacion noted. He said this is the reason why most fishermen are now agitating for the conduct of the study so they will know if there is still hope in it. “They say that if the study will show that is harmful, then the project will not push through,” he recalled. However, he said he is suspicious about the silence of government officials on the study after they have already declared their opposition to it. “If they do not want the reclamation project, they should give us an alternative,” the fishermen said. They warned that the continued neglect of the poor fishermen will adversely affect the political fortunes of many politicians. “Two years is not a long time for us who have waited for their empty promises,” they declared.