Last na po on Boracay. For the meantime.
In a few years, Boracay could have the characteristic malady of an urban sprawl gone lopsided, where you would have a Harlem or a Baseco where people outside of it are fearful to find themselves lost among unfortunate souls. Each city has its own looban; in the interior are citizens in the warren, in the fringes who are practically left out in the society’s heave into what we recognize as progress.
Not everything is gloomy, though. There are signs that locals and migrant workers in Boracay could be part of an equitable growth, as long as they see and seize the opportunities on the table. For one, after six months of lockdown and almost three years of downturn due to the pandemic, economic activity has stirred back to life. There are jobs for construction supervisors and workers and, later, for people to man the tourism facilities and the consequently expanded public amenities and services.
Members of indigenous tribes in Boracay have been given more than 5 hectares of agricultural lands by the Department of Agrarian Reform which could go a notch higher by teaching the recipients to plant high-value veggies, for instance, that could supply the scores of restaurants that have sprouted in the island. The farmers could adopt the hydrophonic method of planting to maximize their new property.
Those who do not or cannot fit into the 9 to 5 work mode could be entrepreneurs. They do not have to be MBA holders nor have the shrewdness of Warren Buffett. All that is needed is the capacity for hard work and discipline - as required from any other person who wish to succeed. They could borrow money for capital with the intention, first of all, to pay it. CARD Bank, the leader in micro-lending, advises borrowers to avail themselves of money they only need and could pay for. They could start small, learn the ropes, and grow big.
I wish to cite the observations of Dr. Aristotle Alip, founder of the CARD-MRI or the Center of Agriculture and Rural Development – Mutually Reinforcing Institutions, a group of 23 organizations that provide social development services to some 8 million disadvantaged Pinoys in our archipelago. In addition, it insures about 27 million citizens especially those who mostly do not fall under the ambit of SSS nor GSIS.
CARD Bank is not your regular bank. It is an optimist like Aris is. It takes extreme risk in lending to people who are in the laylayan, gilid-gilid, and looban fueled, I guess, by its strong faith in underprivileged Pinoys to improve their lot. It operates by trust. It does not ask for voluminous papers for you to prove you are loan worthy. Of course, we are not talking about a Dennis Uy kind of borrowings. We are talking about providing bridges that start from one full meal a day for a whole family to a banquet of goods. What is good about this is that it makes CARD Bank borrowers discover and build on their capacities. Proudly at that.
There is, for example, Mardy who runs two ukay-ukay stores, a boarding house for workers, and a catering service. Vivar rents a stall to sell beach clothes. Her husband is a tour guide and photographer, while their son is a boatman. Jerry, almost 60 years old, drives an e-trike he was able to buy through the help of a loan. Jovelyn worked as a caddy and a masseuse but now sells bracelets, necklaces, and rosaries that she herself makes. There are hundreds of them in Boracay today crossing bridges.