of the Verde Island Passage, Philippines - weADAPT

climate change vulnerability assessment of the verde island passage, philippines
Table 38. Occupancy and annual revenues, Mabini tourist resorts, June
2009.
Annual occupancy
Average number of nights per resort
Total number of nights for Mabini
Annual revenues
Average per resort, in PhP
Total for Mabini, in PhP
80
1,839
3,835,422
88,214,695
Source: Rosales, R. 2005. Report on the Establishment of User Fees for Scuba Diving in Verde Island.
Resorts employ a significant number of locals in their
operations. There are around 342 locals working at
24 resorts, with an average of around 14 per resort
(Table 39). Using certain assumptions on salaries paid
by position, total employment was valued at PhP33.15
million annually, or an average of PhP1.381 million
per resort. Employment thus represents approximately
38% of total annual revenues, or 36% of average
annual revenues per resort. Other employment
opportunities related to tourism are not yet reflected
here. Employment in downstream industries may even
be higher, such as provision of food on-site, land and
water transportation to, from and within Mabini, souvenir
making and selling and manufacture, trade and rental of
equipment used in water-based recreational activities.
Table 39. Employment status in Mabini resorts, June 2009.
Resort employment by type
Administrative
Housekeeping
Kitchen
Landscaping
Garbage disposal
Divers/dive masters
Others
Total employment, 24 resorts
Average employment per resort
Total value of employment, 24 resorts, in PhP
Average value of employment per resort, in PhP
Source: Field interviews, June 2009.
Number/amount
113
55
80
28
23
40
3
342
14
33,150,000
1,381,250
Data on taxes paid by resorts to the local government
office of Mabini were not available for this report.
However, revenues collected from diving entrance
fees have shown a significant increase since the
time they was implemented in 2003 (Table 8). The
entrance fee system was introduced in 2002 to provide
funds for coastal resources management activities of
the LGU. Divers are mandated to pay PhP100 for a
weekend dive in Mabini and Tingloy coral reefs. The
amount was based on a 2001 study that estimated the
recreational value of scuba diving in the area. There
was a revenue shortfall in 2006, but this was due to
problems in collecting fees from divers, rather than a
steep drop in the number of divers visiting Mabini. The
Municipal Environmental and Natural Resources Office
(MENRO) has since instituted changes intended to
make collection methods more efficient. Using a fiveyear
average between 2004 to 2008, close to 13,000
divers visited Mabini and Tingloy coral reefs annually,
generating an estimated PhP1.3 million in annual CRM
revenues.
Tourism is a sector with steadily increasing importance
as a revenue source and employment opportunity in
the Verde Island Passage. However, the regular repeat
divers and marine recreationists who generate incomes
will tend to sustain tourism costs only while the
marine resources are in good condition, which makes
assessments of vulnerability to climate change both
urgent and important.
Foreshore development
As with tourism, profiling foreshore development in
the Verde Island Passage was needed to carry out
the vulnerability assessment as there was no available
data base. Hence, the framework for assessing the
vulnerability of foreshore areas was applied by some
of the participants coming from municipalities with
significant infrastructure development in their respective
foreshore areas, i.e., Balayan-Batangas, Calatagan-
Batangas, Bauan-Batangas, Nasugbu-Batangas,
Puerto Galera-Mindoro Oriental, and Naujan-Mindoro
Oriental.
To start from a profile of foreshore areas in the Verde
Island Passage, participating municipalities in the
workshop group indicated the length of their coastlines
(presented in Table 40). Nasugbu and Calatagan have
relatively long coastlines (60 and 48 km respectively),
thus have larger areas for potential foreshore
development than most of the other municipalities.
Table 40. Length of coastline, Verde
Island Passage municipalities,
2009.
Location
Calatagan
Puerto Galera
Bauan
Naujan
Nasugbu
Balayan
Source: Field interviews, June 2009.
Length
48 km
10 km
4 to 5 km
25 km
60 km
11 km
Infrastructure
development in
foreshore areas
has gone unabated
throughout the years.
The majority of coastal
municipalities have
roads that extend all the
way to their foreshore
areas, many of which
are concrete (Table
41). Table 42 contains the number of municipalities
that have allowed bridges to be constructed, mostly in
municipalities with relatively little coastline.
62