From obscurity to fame, the town of Donsol, Sorsogon, Philippines was placed on the tourism map for its whale shark and more lately, its firefly interactions. Its a conservation success story that reversed hunting of whale sharks for food and export to objects of wonder that became the backbone of the country's leading ecotourism destination. It has ignited an economic activity that spread throughout the region, propelling the town and adjacent areas to profit from sudden influx of tourist. From airlines, to hotels, transport system and tourism ancilliary industries, the whale shark interaction has breath life to otherwise deteriorating tourist destinations such as the Mayon Volcano.
The development of this tourism destination was made possible by support and cooperation of the local government, department of tourism, NGOs and support of global conservation agencies that ensured its proper development. Locally-trained Butanding Interaction officers (BIOs) guide tourist of rules and regulations, guide tourist to observe the whale shark and ensure safety at all times.
But somehow, the quality of service have deteriorated over the years. As a regular visitor to the area of the last five years, I have observed several issues that needs the immediate attention:
1. Some BIOs do not inform the guests of rules of interaction; as a result, tourists touch the whale shark and swimming too near the animal.
2. Wanton violation of interaction rules by BIOs: these include
a) obstructing the swimming of whale shark in order to please their guests. During my last interaction last May 28, 2009, four BIOs took turns to force the poor whale to surface and "corner" the animal.
b) One boat one whale shark policy - on this date, eight boats and guests numbering around 30 are chasing this poor animal.
This happens because of too few sightings towards the end of the season. BIOs and the pumpboats do it to please their guests. My questions are: who implement and enforce these rules. If violations occur, where should it be reported, to whom? What are the punishments for such violations?
Another issue is the use of these bulky life vests. While its use is a safety provision, it is not designed for use in swimming. Going after a whale shark creates so much resistance creating so much noise and disturbance on its wake and providing other swimmers a grand display of air bubbles. They hinder further movement of other swimmers. The DOT should consider use of more hydrodynamic life vest for not so good swimmers or perhaps, a glass bottom boats for these non-swimmers.
Another and a more serious issue is the amount of plastics floating in the water. Pet bottles, wrappers of food chips, plastic glass and bags abound in the interaction area, concentrated by unique current of the area. Some concrete actions need to be done and would need the cooperation of the whole town an adjacent areas.
The firefly interaction was great, the cresent moon providing the background light to the twinkling rhapsody of the firelies. With great interest, we asked questions to our interaction officer about the firefly only to end up with no additional information. These guides ought to be able to explain and provide some background information but wielded nothing but a guiding light from her flashlight. The communication skill is below par. While these interactions could provide jobs they should provide the services paid for. Perhaps, a reading material could prove better than these firefly guides.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Riding on Consumer Ignorance
We Filipinos seem to be so much pre-occupied with the rise and fall of pump fuel prices and blames oil companies. Some even goes to the extent of demanding probe of the companies' books. But it is not just fuel, it is also true for every commodity, be it rice, flour, meat, fish, vegetables, spare parts, and a million other commodities. So why raise hell for just one commodity? Why don't they similarly investigate the books of a fish or vegetable dealer, or even notebook and pencil manufacturers?
Consider this argument. The rise and fall of fuel pump prices is a consequence of global trade, of supply and demand, the cornerstone of free trade. We should be thankful that global recession has reduced demand for oil. But this wont last long. As the global economy picks up again (it is actually picking up), fuel prices would surely rise and would reach, if not breach its highest level.
Media news and articles prod the government to take action. In reality little could be done by government to suppress how companies price their products. It is free trade. Installing price control and subsidies is expensive, distort prices. Funds to support subsidies could be taken from support of basic services such as education, heath and social welfare. However, much more could be done by the consumers, which NEVER raise a howl and complain because it leaves this function to the government or through our jeepney and bus drivers, the latter do so for vested interest.
The consumers could do the following:
1. Efficient use of fuel and its derivaties - this would reduce demand for more oil. What happened in this country was that the low fuel prices has made every Juan de la Cruz return to excessive use of fuel, making unnecessary trips that triggered massive traffic jams and resulted in even more fuel being burned and more greenhouse gasses being emitted.
2. live a green lifestyle - reduce, reuse and recycle, be it from plastics, bottles, cans. Choose products that is free of fossil fuel and its derivaties.
3. pressure government to invest in renewable energies (REs) - this is where government needs to take action, invest in research, support companies that promote REs, promote low carbon development in all aspects of life and forget about letting the oil companies to lead on this RE development. They will simply hinder it. Q: Why do you think electric cars never took off? A: because a major US-based company bought the patent of electric cars and simply don't want to produce them. They bought the patent so nobody could promote it.
4. don't believe everything what the media tell us - Many of us are ignorant on the economics of market and trade. Because of this, the media (whether knowingly and unknowingly)manipulates what they want the public to hear and to believe. READ and BE informed of both sides of the issue. Use the information available in the WEB.
5. As consumers, let us make more noise because, for every centavos increase in fuel prices, in transport fares that is added to the cost of goods, it is always passed to us CONSUMERS that pays for it. When jeepney drivers ask for a raise and held a strike, it is for their own good, not us. But it is us consumers who pays for all this. We could not go to work, we loose a day's income. What did we do? NOTHING!!!!
WHY?
1. because we are ignorant of our consumer rights - often we shiver at the thought of "no return no exchange policy"
2. because culturally, we are not a complaining people. we are simply ashamed to complain and demand our consumer rights and priveleges. why are there no class suits filed against the owners of many bankrupt pre-need plan companies?
3. because perhaps of amor propio - misused to mean that we consider ourselves destitute if we demand that we get an exact change from supermarkets instead of getting a piece of lead-laden labelled candies.
And because we are ignorant and ashamed, businesses exploit us. WE SHOULD GET OUT OF THIS "IGNORANCE TRAP".
Consider this argument. The rise and fall of fuel pump prices is a consequence of global trade, of supply and demand, the cornerstone of free trade. We should be thankful that global recession has reduced demand for oil. But this wont last long. As the global economy picks up again (it is actually picking up), fuel prices would surely rise and would reach, if not breach its highest level.
Media news and articles prod the government to take action. In reality little could be done by government to suppress how companies price their products. It is free trade. Installing price control and subsidies is expensive, distort prices. Funds to support subsidies could be taken from support of basic services such as education, heath and social welfare. However, much more could be done by the consumers, which NEVER raise a howl and complain because it leaves this function to the government or through our jeepney and bus drivers, the latter do so for vested interest.
The consumers could do the following:
1. Efficient use of fuel and its derivaties - this would reduce demand for more oil. What happened in this country was that the low fuel prices has made every Juan de la Cruz return to excessive use of fuel, making unnecessary trips that triggered massive traffic jams and resulted in even more fuel being burned and more greenhouse gasses being emitted.
2. live a green lifestyle - reduce, reuse and recycle, be it from plastics, bottles, cans. Choose products that is free of fossil fuel and its derivaties.
3. pressure government to invest in renewable energies (REs) - this is where government needs to take action, invest in research, support companies that promote REs, promote low carbon development in all aspects of life and forget about letting the oil companies to lead on this RE development. They will simply hinder it. Q: Why do you think electric cars never took off? A: because a major US-based company bought the patent of electric cars and simply don't want to produce them. They bought the patent so nobody could promote it.
4. don't believe everything what the media tell us - Many of us are ignorant on the economics of market and trade. Because of this, the media (whether knowingly and unknowingly)manipulates what they want the public to hear and to believe. READ and BE informed of both sides of the issue. Use the information available in the WEB.
5. As consumers, let us make more noise because, for every centavos increase in fuel prices, in transport fares that is added to the cost of goods, it is always passed to us CONSUMERS that pays for it. When jeepney drivers ask for a raise and held a strike, it is for their own good, not us. But it is us consumers who pays for all this. We could not go to work, we loose a day's income. What did we do? NOTHING!!!!
WHY?
1. because we are ignorant of our consumer rights - often we shiver at the thought of "no return no exchange policy"
2. because culturally, we are not a complaining people. we are simply ashamed to complain and demand our consumer rights and priveleges. why are there no class suits filed against the owners of many bankrupt pre-need plan companies?
3. because perhaps of amor propio - misused to mean that we consider ourselves destitute if we demand that we get an exact change from supermarkets instead of getting a piece of lead-laden labelled candies.
And because we are ignorant and ashamed, businesses exploit us. WE SHOULD GET OUT OF THIS "IGNORANCE TRAP".
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Growing Pains
Thanks to improvements in nutrition,health and parental care that our parents have provided us through these years. The average Filipino size have increased, albeit many horizontally rather than vertically. Unfortunately, our public transport system (hello, calling the Department of Transportation and Communication) have not kept pace with such development.
Using my self as gauge, standing 5 '10"inches and weighing proportionately, I could say I belong to the bigger 20 percentile of Filipinos. Yet, our public transport system, the jeepneys, tricycles and even planes, still thinks that our sizes are highly compressible, able to fit 20 for jeepneys designed for 16 passengers, tricycles designed for 3 to fit 7. Mind you, I am only talking about the seating capacity. If we include those "on-hangers, clingers, and roof seaters", then we see records of the "guiness book of records" challenged everytime.
Let us take the more sophisticated transport mode, the plane. The number of rows have been added to ensure that you are snuggly seated (for those whose height is 5'4" inches and below), "knees-touch your chin" seating style for those between 5'5" and 6'1" and those taller than 6'1", you will end up half standing but be warned for a chastise by those cute stewardesses to seat properly. My advice to those tall people is to take up yoga classes and for those very very tall ones, learn to become a contortionist before you even attempt to ride Cebu Pacific!
Why can't the government enforce a comfortable, safe standards for the public transport system? Is it because we promote private transport system and contribute more to global warming? Is it because we promote a business model that maximizes profits and punish the consumers? Operators often use declining profits as reason. Perhaps, we neeed to take a closer look at how these jeepneys and tricycles operate and remove all those "added cost". I take the jeepney regularly and everywhere you find jeepney drivers paying a toll to different barangays along the way. These are plain extortion and is no different from traffic enforcer mulcting drivers.
In many cities in the country, LTFRB has allowed those bonzai jeepneys (multi-cabs)taking as many passengers as a regular jeepney to proliferate. It may be comforting to those "maniacal" passengers to place their knees in the inner thighs to the discomfort of those seated on the opposite side.
As consumer, I am sure that I am willing to pay more comfort and safety.
Using my self as gauge, standing 5 '10"inches and weighing proportionately, I could say I belong to the bigger 20 percentile of Filipinos. Yet, our public transport system, the jeepneys, tricycles and even planes, still thinks that our sizes are highly compressible, able to fit 20 for jeepneys designed for 16 passengers, tricycles designed for 3 to fit 7. Mind you, I am only talking about the seating capacity. If we include those "on-hangers, clingers, and roof seaters", then we see records of the "guiness book of records" challenged everytime.
Let us take the more sophisticated transport mode, the plane. The number of rows have been added to ensure that you are snuggly seated (for those whose height is 5'4" inches and below), "knees-touch your chin" seating style for those between 5'5" and 6'1" and those taller than 6'1", you will end up half standing but be warned for a chastise by those cute stewardesses to seat properly. My advice to those tall people is to take up yoga classes and for those very very tall ones, learn to become a contortionist before you even attempt to ride Cebu Pacific!
Why can't the government enforce a comfortable, safe standards for the public transport system? Is it because we promote private transport system and contribute more to global warming? Is it because we promote a business model that maximizes profits and punish the consumers? Operators often use declining profits as reason. Perhaps, we neeed to take a closer look at how these jeepneys and tricycles operate and remove all those "added cost". I take the jeepney regularly and everywhere you find jeepney drivers paying a toll to different barangays along the way. These are plain extortion and is no different from traffic enforcer mulcting drivers.
In many cities in the country, LTFRB has allowed those bonzai jeepneys (multi-cabs)taking as many passengers as a regular jeepney to proliferate. It may be comforting to those "maniacal" passengers to place their knees in the inner thighs to the discomfort of those seated on the opposite side.
As consumer, I am sure that I am willing to pay more comfort and safety.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
