The government is banning everybody”•tourists and locals included”•from swimming along the beaches in Panglao, Bohol and in El Nido, Palawan due to “very high” levels of coliform, Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat has said.
The announcement preceded the three-month fishing ban effective as from today in the entire Zamboanga Peninsula, as declared by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.
The Alona Beach registered a coliform count of 16,000 most probable number (mpn), while the Buena Suerte Beach had 1,300 mpn, Puyat said in an interview on dzMM, beamed nationwide.
The normal water quality for beaches is 100 mpn, while swimming pools usually have 400 mpn.
Puyat said, speaking in Filipino: “The mayor should have implemented the no swimming policy because it’s not good for the health of the tourists.
“If one person will claim on social media that he fell ill because of that, our entire tourism industry will be affected.”
Puyat did not say when the ban would be lifted, but said the Department of Environment and Natural Resources was conducting water quality checks every 15 days.
In April, the government closed Boracay Island to tourists for six months to clean its waters that have become “cesspools.”
Puyat stressed that El Nido and Panglao would not be entirely closed for rehabilitation since the islands had several beaches.
BFAR said the ban covered several sardines varieties like the local tamban, tunsoy, haul haul, tabagak, and balantiyog.
The agency said the ban would provide the fish ample time to breed.
The use of fishnets is also not allowed like the purse seine, ringnet, bagnet, and scoop net.
Violators of small-scale commercial fishing risk a fine of P50,000 to P100,000 but those who will violate provisions of the large-scale commercial fishing will face a fine of P1 million to P5 million.
But BFAR clarified that boat fishing or using small bancas was allowed which, according to local fisherfolks, would at least help them in their daily sustenance.
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