She Likes It

When we say, “Please not Bora,” we are protecting the island as well. We are trying to hold on to the old Boracay, to the way life was before people started not to care and began littering our beaches – to hold an event and not clean up, to becloud the scenic sunset with ads dictating what we should want.

When we say, “Please not Bora,” we ask that you respect the Island culture. By respecting the name, we say speak the name Boracay the same way we do – with love. To love the name is to preserve its culture. I write this article now from another island called Hawai’i. And here, in order to preserve their culture and revive their language, they begin with the name. The Hawaiians don’t say “Hawaiyi.” They pronounce the “w” with a hint of a “v,” and the last “i” is pronounced distinctly. That is their culture. This is ours – Bo-ra-cay, like a child learning the syllables of the waves. If you stop with “Bora,” all you get is “Bora;” you don’t receive all of what Boracay has to offer. Its treasure isn’t the white sand, it’s the whole Island.

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If you complain about Boracay being overcrowded, littered, etc., you don’t yet know the Island. Try to know it. Then perhaps, as you walk through the long stretch of white sand, you’ll pick up that empty mineral water bottle. If you work for a company that profits from Boracay, perhaps create projects to conserve it. Notice that there are no recycle bins in every corner. What will a little sponsorship take? Can’t Smart donate recycle bins? It is a better ad placement than the sailboats. Can Shakey’s sponsor a clean-up drive to get rid of the plastics on the beaches? Will Havaiianas have a walk in the Boracay forest and teach about the endangered endemic flora and fauna in the island like the Golden Crown Flying Foxes? Plant a tree, plant a reef. How much will it cost to have a little of Boracay back each day? So please, not “Bora.” Please call it Boracay.

My family is from Aklan and I have some of the most vivid and fond childhood memories of Boracay. Family keeps telling me that it’s commercialized now and it’s sad for me to hear that the look and feel is different.

I hope people take care of it because it would be so sad to lose the laid back and escapist atmosphere of those white sand beaches where you could sip on a mango shake and eat a crepe while watching the sunset without having to worry about what time it was or what you were going to do next.