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Post by Deleted on Sept 4, 2009 21:43:25 GMT 8
hi everyone, I'm new in this forum, by the way im alyssa and still studying. I've been to corregidor last april and i was amazed with its historical sites. I love historical places also knowing past events. I've also read some topics in this forum and it shock me that in developing the island to a tourist destination some issues came in. Having a tourism subject makes me think of corregidor on how it was before and now that it is developed to become a tourist destination. One of the topics i feel like discussing is the sustainabilty of the island and how tourism affects its historical essence. are they any local settlers in the island?
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Post by mapmaster on Sept 5, 2009 9:28:51 GMT 8
Hi alych Welcome to the forum. It is good that you have visited Corregidor and have a developed interest on the effects of tourism on such an historic place. I've been to Corregidor four times. The first visit was the standard day package consisting of a quick look at Batteries Way, Hearn and Crockett, followed by lunch and a walk through Malinta Tunnel. My next two visits were the same as above, but I stayed over night and I went to Batteries Wheeler, Grubbs and Cheney on the second day. The fourth trip was the best. No standard tour; instead five days exploring various generally unseen structures and tunnels. During those five days, I saw only a small portion of what is potentially of interest. So there is a lot of places for tourists to see when staying one or more nights. However, it is difficult and often at some risk visiting some of these places of interest. For tourism to be expanded on Corregidor, access and safety will have to be considered. This could impact on the integrity of structures. The standard one day tour - Battery Way. A photo of tourists taken by a tourist Tourists are taken past this area, but exploration is only available for the over nighter - Battery Geary Just above the barrel of the mortar and in the background, a set of steps can be seen. These lead to a revetted pathway which in turn leads to an intersection on Belt Line Road and eventually Mile Long Barracks. Tourists only see this area at sunset when staying over night. Exploring the structure takes several hours and there are still treasures to see - Battery Grubbs and the Distinctive Unit Insignia of the 91st Coastal Artillery (Philippine Scouts) The DUI was possibly painted by a Philippines Scout when the battery was manned by them in 1942. The concrete below the DUI has already been attached by a graffiti artist. It must be preserved, but how do we achieve a balance between tourism and historical preservation? Regards mapmaster
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2009 15:52:13 GMT 8
maybe having some restrictions and policies regarding those matters will help preserve corregidors historical essence and also a good planning should take place.
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Post by EXO on Sept 6, 2009 17:40:41 GMT 8
It is difficult to place any restrictions and make policies upon Corregidor without falling foul of the law of unintended consequences.
This is the only law which cannot be revoked.
Corregidor is beholden to the number of tourists who visit it, for the only budget available to govern (and maintain) it is a percentile of the income they bring in. Thus, you need to increase the numbers, and decrease the effect that the added numbers will have upon the economic and ecological environment.
It is a very difficult equation to keep balanced, and I (for one) am not persuaded it is in balance.
I am, however, hopeful that there are people who can see it is a challenge to create a balance between the necessity to preserve an asset, and the necessity to make that asset return a sustainable income.
I have a few examples - one of the most controversial is that I believe there should be a policy that waste products from the tourist trade should be removed from the island, and not be dumped there. Garbage brought to the island should be removed from it.
That's a topic all in itself.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2009 19:03:33 GMT 8
How about DOT, PTA and CFI are they doing something to preserve the island. When did tourism started in corregidor or when did they started developing the island to a tourist destination?.
i hope that corregidor will not turn into an island full of memorials and garbage.
What if an ecopark will be placed in the island considering the historical structures maybe in that way visitors will be educated about the islands environmental resources. ;D
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2009 19:25:36 GMT 8
how about the positive side of tourism in corregidor. Are there any benefits brought to the island?
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Post by EXO on Sept 7, 2009 6:21:51 GMT 8
Many things are done to preserve Corregidor, though you might not notice them. If you were to see, perhaps, on of th other islands which hav NOT been preserved, it would be obvious what was being done on Corregidor - though getting to Carabao Is. is not easy. The most obvious "rescue" of a building on Corregidor has been the Middleside Barracks project, and even this was accompanied over much misplaced objection, with some people kicking and screaming all the way. The general opinion of our group, and of this website, is that the work there was necessary, desirable, and was generally successful. You will have to get busy with your search engine to look up some of the key words of the topics you are researching. I do not know the exact year in which tourism started, though I suspect it as the late '60s. There did seem to be a lot of memorials being built, and as always, some were better than others. About en years back, one of the US Survivors who used to revisit the island frequently lamented that the island was becoming stocked with so many memorials, he was "surprised that they hadn't built one for the Turks." However, the enthusiasm for memorials seems to have wained. Memorials are better than Casino Resorts, and there was the ill-feted attempt during the Marcos times to establish these at 92d Garage. I think I speak for many of us who are glad it failed. What sort of resort should be built over the site of a prison camp! Many ventures on Corregidor have failed. There were bird cages at Middleside, to breed exotic birds and plants. One lady attempted to repopulate the island with butterflies and the types of plants that encouraged them. There was, for a time, a tame Sea Eagle which would come down to the veranda of the Inn and be hand fed. Something/someone killed it. For a few years I have tried to promote and encourage the concept of turning Corregidor into some form of an Eco Park, but this idea seems to collide against many deep objections - - some folk have brought domestic cats to the island, which - if not neutered - can (and have) become feral; Scientific experience tells us that feral cats destroy the necessary small wildlife on the island and thus prevent nature's eco-chain from regenerating;
- some folk find it more profitable to dump garbage on the island, rather than carry it off;
- some folk prefer to dynamite fish the island's waters than use more ecological means;
- some folk in Manila don't know, and don't care that the garbage they dump there ends up being washed up on the beaches of every island in Manila Bay.
- some corporations manufacture plastic products which are not bio-degradable. and ar therefor more profitable than bio-degradable ones, and which litter the waterways and beaches of Manila Bay; and they do not take kindly to government telling them what to do;
- some folk do not have the resources which would allow them to recognize the spread of unwanted plant pests on Corregidor; search Kudzu
- some folk do not like to be told about ecological issues at all;
To cut a long story short, I have found that some people do not like to be educated about the risks to the island's environmental resources, or if they are, they do not want to be obligated by outsiders to become environmentally sensitive in practice, only in theory. Corregidor, in my theory, isn't just an ecological microcosm, it is a political one, and a developmental one too. Yet it doesn't have the pressure of an ungovernable population, though it does have the problem of an acute lack of financial resources, cash-flow problems, etc. It would be an excellent "classroom" for ecological practices. It could be used to teach the teachers of sound ecological and sustainable practices. I'd really like to end on an " up note" but that's not always possible when dealing with ecological issues on Corregidor.
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