Cebu

A year into the pandemic, Moalboal stirs back to life

Lorraine Ecarma

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A year into the pandemic, Moalboal stirs back to life

REFUGE. Mayas Native Garden, a go-to accommodation for divers and tourists, sees a downturn in visitors in October 2020.

Photo by Lorraine Ecarma/Rappler

As tourism reopens in Cebu, resorts and other establishments begin to bounce back

Panagsama, a sunny nook in the beach town of Moalboal, Cebu, is noticeably brighter now than it was 4 months ago.

Having seen the deserted streets, and the closed up shacks that stretched in the shoreline back in October of 2020, observing two tourists walk along the unpaved beach road was a sign that things were starting to look up.

At the end of our 3-hour drive from Cebu City beacons Mayas Native Garden, a trusty refuge to divers, tourists, and creatives in need of the sea.

Four months ago, just as the Cebu Province began its efforts to revive tourism, the shoreline seemed like a lost town. Four months ago, the murals on Mayas’ walls seemed more saturated in contrast with the absence of beach folk that filled its narrow stretch of restaurants and hotels.

Ghost town

Even after the provincial government relaunched the province’s tourism industry in July 2020, Mayas and the myriad of cafes, hotels, and disco houses that line Panagsama did not see a single new guest.

Errol “Budoy” Marabiles, a Cebuano artist and the new manager of Mayas Native Garden and Cottages, had just taken over his position two weeks before the lockdown began in March 2020.

Among the first things he did was round up his friends to paint on the walls of the garden cafe to welcome guests. Budoy said that on a good day, the restaurant would earn up to P22,000 a night, excluding the bookings in the garden’s 5 native cottages.

Sauna usahay, mga P22,000. Imagine, from P22,000 to zero for 6 months. So, dako kaayo na loss,” Budoy told Rappler in an interview back in October.

(We used to earn P22,000 before. Imagine, from P22,000 to zero for 6 months. That’s a really big loss.)

MANAGER. Mayas Native Garden’s Budoy Marabiles sits at the resort’s restaurant in October 2020.
Photo by Lorraine Ecarma/Rappler

For the first few weeks of their temporary closure, Mayas was able to give financial aid to their displaced employees. Eventually, aid came in the form of rice and other goods. And then, finally, Budoy said they could no longer afford any other form of relief because they had no income.

“Mga after one month, nagsige pa mi og pangita ba. Usahay moari sila, tagaan namo og bugas ug kwarta ginagmay. Pero hantod wala na gyud, wala na gyu’y income,” he said.

(After one month, we still kept trying to look for a way. Sometimes when they came, we gave them rice and little cash. But came to a point where we can’t anymore, we don’t have income at all.)

Quarantine restrictions were first imposed in Cebu in the later half of March. At that time, there were less than 10 confirmed cases within the island.

At that time, Mayas’ income came entirely from stranded foreigners who stayed in their cottages. Budoy said it barely paid the bills. So when quarantine restrictions eased, they began accepting family events and small gatherings.

Mayas tried to apply for assistance from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) but was denied aid because there weren’t enough funds.

According to Rolie Alderite, Moalboal Tourism officer, the municipal government prioritized small-time tourism workers in the informal sector like boat owners. The DOLE is supposed to be able to cover relief for the formal sector, which includes resorts, hotels and similarly registered tourism establishments.

The cut in income – for individuals and local government units – was dramatic. For Moalboal in particular, the town only made 20% of its usual revenue from tourism due to the quarantine.

During this writer’s visit in October 2020, two months after tourism was re-opened, we saw a specter of halcyon days – signages of formerly packed disco places were taken down, a layer of dust covered empty restaurant seats, and the rocky road that linked one establishment to another were occupied only by the occasional stranded foreigners and a random local here and there.

Revival

This was no longer the case upon our return to Mayas in March 2021.

During our visit, its signboard boasted of a menu of burritos, pad thai, and humba. Right across, at the al fresco restaurant Last Filling Station, a mixture of oregano, brewed native coffee, and the sea breeze wafted in the air. Even the beach dogs seemed to have known that tourism was back – a handful happily napped by customers’ feet.

Inside sits Budoy, no longer solitary but surrounded by friends who are either working behind laptops or animatedly talking.

That weekend, we were barely able to book our room at Mayas – most rooms were already reserved. Our fellow guests were an mix of families who wanted to avoid the crowds gathered in the more popular beaches in the town, divers who wished to experience the town’s famous tuna run, and city people on a retreat from work and the noise of city life.

EMPTY. Moalboal’s Panagsama beach in October 2020 is different without the usual vacationers visiting the tourist hotspot.
Photo by Lorraine Ecarma/Rappler
Health protocols

In order to be allowed entry into the town’s beaches, visitors must present proof of online booking to the town’s tourism office.

Then, they will be granted an entry pass for the checkpoints. For visitors who plan on staying only for a day, the local government unit set a quota of only 500 “day-use” passes. This process was established in the effort to prevent crowding in the town’s shores and establishments as a safety precaution against COVID-19.

In an interview, Alderite said that about 60% of Moalboal’s 200 hotels or bed and breakfasts have since reopened. Others are still applying for permits to reopen, pending compliance with the province’s health and safety requirements (footbaths, sanitizers, and UV sterilization technology).

From a monthly count of 800 visitors in August, Moalboal recorded 13,000 visitors in January. The current count in March has already reached 8,320 visitors.

Although it is a significant turnup from the early days of the pandemic, Alderite said it’s still far from the figures they recorded before the pandemic.

“As of now, kaning imong mga nakita na figures, kaning akong gipanganlan nga tawo ron di man ni mo check-in… mo-stay lang siguro ato mga katunga sa akong gipangmention. Katunga or mga one fourth ra gane kay kasagaran day use ra,” he said.

(As of now, these figures that you are seeing, these people don’t necessarily check-in… only about half of the number stay in [overnight]. About half or even a quarter of the visitors because the rest are only day use.)

“But this time nga ning-open ta, ningdawat ta og outside sa region… naghinay-hinay sila og pangutana. Naghinay-hinay sila og comply kay naa na silay mga nadawat na booking online,” he added.

(This time, now that we’re receiving visitors from outside the region… they’re slowly making inquiries. They’re slowly complying [to safety requirements] because they’re slowly receiving online bookings.)

Since 2021 started, the provincial government began opening its gates to tourists from neighboring provinces. It was also the first local government unit to stop requiring negative RTC-PCR results for inbound domestic travelers.

With the fluctuations of COVID-19 cases in country, however, it’s unclear if it’ll be all sun for Moalboal from now on. But the town has come a long way from 2020. The challenge that remains for Moalboal and other tourist-dependent towns is to strike a balance economy and health. – Rappler.com

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