What are your plans for us?

This was the question villagers in three Panglao towns are asking government officials. The villagers in the barangays of Poblacion, Doljo and Danao raised the questions as town officials are laying the groundwork for the holding of a tourism summit. “ Maayo pa ang mga turista nga di taga dinhi kay giatiman pag ayo (Tourists who are not from here are better off because they are being attended to),” a village leader in Poblacion said. He lamented that while the tourists who can take care of themselves are being pampered, the poor who look up to the government are being neglected. A resident in Barangay Doljo noted that the ordinary villagers feel that they cannot expect anything anymore from the government.

He pointed out that contrary to its posturing of concern for the people, the provincial government has not done anything to address the issue of the environmental study for the proposed reclamation project. According to the Doljo resident, the people in the three villages have been expecting the provincial government to push through with the study to settle the issue once and for all. Instead, he said the provincial government has become silent on the issue which leads them to suspect that the real strategy of the opponents of the reclamation project is just to delay action on it. Another leader in barangay Danao said they are losing hope that the environmental questions will be resolved because it is becoming clear that the issue is not really about environmental protection but business consideration.

The leaders in the three villages said they did the right thing when they banded together because this is the only way that they will treated seriously. They said the first positive development that came out after they organized was the livelihood assistance in the form of fishing gears given to them by two party-list representatives. “They accuse us of being bought by the project proponents that is adding insult to injury because it is not true,” he added. The villagers said the assistance was given to help them in their livelihood and not a dole-out or worse a bribe as their critics want to make it appear. They complained that while steps are being taken to improve the tourism industry which largely benefits the resort owners, tour agencies and other businessmen, there is none for the lowly fishermen in their part of Panglao who can hardly eat three square meals. “The initiative of one investor from the proposed reclamation project to hold dialogues with us to find out what our sentiments are is the first time that anybody talked to us about our livelihood,” the leader from Doljo said.

The villager said the distribution of the fishing gears was one of the concrete steps taken through the initiative of the proponent after the series of dialogues. More importantly, however, the three village leaders said the dialogues helped them understand where they will fit in if the reclamation project will push through. “We know that fishing will no longer be able to sustain us not only because of the dwindling catch but also because of overpopulation,” the leader from Poblacion pointed out. He said that this was the reason why most of the villagers in the three barangays are pinning their hopes on the reclamation project because most of them see it as their ticket to a better life.