They say the Filipinos can never say “summer is here” because the Philippines does not have the four seasons of winter, spring, summer and fall. We can only claim the wet and dry seasons that we have. But whether summer or dry season, the fact is that temperature during the day this time of the year is scorching hot and it is driving a lot of people to the beaches. That's what I did last week – drive the whole family to the beach in world famous Panglao. Local residents of Bohol have as much right as the tourists to enjoy any of the beaches that Panglaocan boast of. Shorelines and beaches are owned by the State and cannot be titled to anybody. Therefore the use of beaches should be the right of every citizen and cannot be denied to anybody who would like touse them especially during these terribly hot days. We all know of course that unfortunately the practice in our country is different from what the law says or implies. In reality the beaches in front of 5-star hotels and resorts are for the exclusive use of the hotel or resort's guests or whoever pays entrance fees.

The result? The best beaches are for the tourists and those who can afford entrance fees while the unkempt and dirty beaches are the ones available and accessible to the local residents. That is the situation in Panglao and may be in the other coastal parts of Bohol. I am not saying this because I chose not to pay entrance fees to those beautiful and well maintained beaches. I am saying this out of frustration on what has happened to the other ones beautiful beaches of Panglao. There was a time when one can go to the beach and enjoy with the family and friends the whole day. By that I mean any beach – the ones we now refer to as public beach because anybody and everybody can go to it, and the ones in front of hotels and resorts that are kept and maintained by the owners of those hotels and resorts. Now local residents who don't want to pay or can't afford to pay can only go to beaches that don't require entrance fees. There should be no problem to this, but yes there is. Those that have entrance fees are kept clean while those that don't require fees are as dirty as one can imagine.

Beaches that don't require entrance fees are left to the mercy of nature. If the sea chooses to dump it with floating debris–fronds, plastic bottles, sea grass, wild seaweeds, dead animals and what have you - then so be it. No one lifts a finger to make the beaches clean. Not even the supposed owners of the land or small resorts who claim frontage of the beach would make an effort to clean the beaches. Yet thy areincluded in the promotional efforts of government for Bohol, especially Panglao, as a tourism haven of the Philippines. Let me cite, in particular, the beaches after Amarela up to the Panglao White Beach Resort and further. From the way the pile of unwanted mix of debris looks, no cleaning or maintenance work was done for the last six (6) months. And it puts to shame tourism promotional efforts because what the promotion claims are no longer true. Dirty beaches and tourism promotions for the recovery of Bohol cannot mix. I hope the Provincial Tourism Council and the municipal government of Panglaocan do something to correct the situation to make the invitation for foreign and local tourist to come to Bohol really meaningful and truthful and not just an empty boast.