MANILA, Philippines – If it were up to travel writer-director Gabby Malvar, he would much rather have Boracay, the country’s prime beach destination, closed-down for at least ten years.
During an exclusive interview with Bulletin Entertainment at the press screening of his travel documentary show “Islands Insider” at Greenbelt 3 cinema on May 21, Malvar good-naturedly explained that Boracay desperately needs rehabilitation, whether a lot of people agree with it or not.
Malvar insisted that the island has greatly depreciated over the years after its has openly accommodated multitudes of visitors, a fact proven by the disturbing algae deposit and trash that have now littered the once-pristine white sandy beaches of Boracay.
Malvar appealed to other travel junkies like him as well as to vacationers to explore other sites in the country instead of going to overly-visited spots like Boracay, Bohol and the underground river of Puerto Princesa in Palawan. He believes that aside from giving the aforementioned destinations ample time to regenerate its resources by reducing the the number of tourists populating the areas, opting for less-explored places could also help spread out the boost to the local tourism industry, which is something that the country has been targeting for the longest time.
“Please consider not going to Boracay first. Consider not going to Bohol, surely the people from Bohol and Boracay would hate me, but please, try other places,” he urged.
According to him, while it’s greatly overwhelming that foreigners have started noticing the country’s inherent beauty, on a local level, we Filipinos are yet to fully-recognize our country’s potential by supporting and promoting less-marketed yet equally beholding destinations like Mt. Pulag in Benguet and the Batad Rice Terraces in the Cordilleras.
As someone who have seen these places first-hand, Malvar stressed that, in truth, the duty of promoting the country isn’t and will never be the government’s job alone. Instead, he pointed out that it is also the travelers' responsibility to spread the word about it.
“You cannot be travelers and just say that, ‘Okay I’ve been there done that, I’m off to my next destination.’ You have a responsibility and that is to tell people, to educate,” said Malvar.
More, he also added that, at the very least, these self-styled travel junkies who put up travel blogs and post photos of their experiences in one place also need to recognize that they have accountability, too.
“You have some responsibility to the next person to be able to preserve it—the heritage,” he enthused.
On ‘Islands Insider’
After talking about traveling and the responsibilities it involves, Malvar then tackled his latest work that he actually considers to be the “visual version” of his upcoming book.
Malvar, prior to becoming the show’s director, is actually a travel columnist (Viajero Chronicles) who dreams of having to tell travel stories in a certain “experiential” way.
“Ginggay [Hontiveros, the show’s host] and I have just talked about it. Because I write, I was really writing a book and then as I was finishing… I thought maybe I can do not just [the] book, [but do something] not just in written words but, you know, with more visuals. I thought it would be something better,” he related as to how he came to make “Islands Insider.”
According to him, he picked the word “Insider” because it connotes “a point of truth that an outsider would not know”
“Parang there seems to be more insight. Insiders, they know something that other people wouldn’t know. We called it ‘Islands Insiders’ because the stories are told by people who actually live there; by the Ifugaos, the Ibaloys, by a Shaman in Siquijor. [The stories all] told by the locals,” he shared, adding that as locals to those places, “they can best tell the story rather than us.”
During the event, they screened the first two episodes of the show: “Batad Rice Terraces” and “Coron,” respectively. The show, apart from showcasing the breathtaking sceneries of a location, notably digresses from typical travel shows by giving attention to the dilemmas currently faced by the natives of a certain province.
To this, Malvar noted that the said aspect—the fact that every area has problems that need to be addressed—was actually part of their requirements in picking a place to feature.
“I think we’ve always been aware. Maybe it’s the way we approach things, the way we look at things, there’s always something that can always be improved. There’s always something that’s needed to preserve a place. And maybe we also gravitate towards stories like that,” he shared.
“Islands Insider” will feature six episodes that seek to reveal the cultural and historical bases of some of the most compelling sites in the country. Hosted by Ginggay Hontiveros, the show will premiere this June on the National Geographic Channel.
source: mb.com.ph
