Reboot PH Tourism! Along With That, Reboot Provinces With Organic Agriculture!

I am reading the news report by ANN (Author Not Named, 13 April 2023, Boracay Island News Network, boracayislandnews.com) shared on Facebook by Jun N Aguirre Jags (top image), where Boracay Governor Jose Enrique Miraflores sounds apologetic: “Aklan Still An Agri Province With Vibrant Tourism Industry, Says Guv.” The word “Still” steals the thunder from the announcement! Instead, if I were Guv Miraflores, I would be appreciative and say something like this: “Boracay Island is now doubly vibrant – with its vibrant organic agriculture and even more vibrant tourism!” Googling, I can see no other province in the Philippines, island or not, that can boast such an accomplishment. (Congratulations, Boracay!)

Organic Boracay is at least 15 years old. Gaby Novenario says (11 May 2018, “How Negros Paved The Way For Organic Agriculture In The Philippines,” F&B Report, fnbreport.ph):

Ten years ago, the local governments of Negros Oriental and Occidental signed a memorandum of agreement to work together and turn the island into the “Organic Food Bowl of Asia.” Since then, the provinces have produced 10,000 hectares of organic land, serving as the benchmark for the rest of the country to follow suit.

Wow! I must say, I an advocate of organic agriculture for the last 56 years, starting 1967 when I was Substitute Instructor in Horticulture at the-then UPCA, now UP Los Baños.

“We couldn’t have done it on our own,” says Ramon “Chin Chin” Uy Jr, founder of Fresh Start Organics and President of the Organic na Negros! Organic Producers and Retailers Association, on the organic movement of the Negros provinces. “It took the cooperation of the government, different stakeholders, and the consumers’ support of the organic movement for it to become successful. Had one of these [been not] in the mix, it wouldn’t have taken off.”

What is clear to me, an agriculturist, is that for now Boracay can rely on its organic agriculture (OA) to encourage more and more tourists to the island resort. Naturally, among other things, OA produces healthy foods that should draw more tourists to visit the island not only to relax their bodies but also eat healthier foods – that’s double compensation both for tourists and farmers.

In the title, I said, “Reboot PH Tourism! Along With That, Reboot Provinces With Organic Agriculture.” Currently, we have a total of 82 provinces in the Philippines (Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org). I am now thinking of my native province Pangasinan, where you have several tourist attractions; in Guide To The Philippines (guidetothephilippines.ph), Klara Iskra Añonuevo has the following “12 Best Pangasinan Tourist Spots”:

Cape Bolinao Lighthouse, Our Farm Republic, Tayug Sunflower Eco Park, Balingasay River (Bolinao), Bolinao Falls, Lingayen Beach, Tondol White Sand Beach, Enchanted Cave (Bolinao), Patar Beach, Cabongaoan Beach & Death Pool, Minor Basilica Of Our Lady Of The Rosary Of Manaoag, and Hundred Islands National Park.

Today, I see Pangasinan with its dozen of tourist spots needs to reboot the whole province to organic agriculture to attract hundreds of thousands of tourists to this heart-shaped province in Central Luzon!@517
(Pangasinan map from pngwing.com)