In 1995, my column was in high praise of Boracay as “The World’s Most Beautiful.” That was exactly what I told fellow tourists during a 21-day group tour consisting of 25 foreigners, mostly Australians, and five Filipinos, including my better-half Rudy and me.

The itinerary covered 11 countries — Greece, Rome, and some cities in Europe. There were stopovers at several beaches, which made me assert, Boracay sand, in our country, is very white you just can’t find the same at other beaches of the world. The Australians were unbelieving. Our fellow Filipinos, who hadn’t been to Boracay, thought I was exaggerating.

Rudy and I had been to Boracay thrice in the ‘80s, the latest in 2000 after our historic Rivera Clan Reunion. [My mother was the late Cristeta Rivera. Thus, Rivera was my middle name before I became a hyphenated woman.] Daughters Rose and Randy wanted to show off to their “significant others,” Timothy Yee and David Dingus, the best of the islands, and of course Boracay was it! From the vantage point of our hometown Oton, Boracay is about three hours away by car.

The newcomers, including Inday Bebita and brother-in-law Toto Raul Balinghasay, basked in the white sand and dipped in the cool waters of the island. They did not find overrated what I wrote then about Boracay:

“Considered as the Philippines’ premier fiesta island, Boracay is where you can frolic on the sand under a noonday sun without burning your feet. The sand stays cool all hours you can lie on it and get a beautiful tan. This is one characteristic of Boracay one is hard put to find in any other beach, and I have been to some of the famous beaches in the world.

What are Cannes and Monaco with the lapping waters of the Mediterranean Sea, but Cannes for its film festivals and Monaco for the casino in Monte Carlo? We visited these tourist places in 1995 in the company of 25 other tourists whom the hubby and I had to convince to come to my country and experience the most beautiful beach in the world.

There is South Padre Island in Brownsville, Texas where my daughter Raileen used to work as a pediatrician. South Padre boasts of high-rise hotels, horseback riding, and a lot of swimming in waters that is a far-cry from Boracay’s crystal-clear. The much touted seas of the Caribbean Islands that Rudy and I cruised in 2001 and 2003 (courtesy of our children) just pale beside Boracay’s powdery white sand. All those I’ve mentioned are no match to the Philippines’ own premier fiesta island.

Even if the island has been cut to pieces by a sundry of developers, the surrounding seas continue to lure tourists, both local and foreign. The congestion of hotels, inns, cottages, restaurants, and talipapas has robbed the island of its natural beauty, but the seas pay off. Some of the time we were immersed in the water, the rain drizzled but the water was warm and Boracay was like a huge swimming pool, a haven to the swim-hungry.”

Now, to give credit where credit is due, Hilton Head Island in South Carolina is the cleanest beach I’ve been to. Mother and daughter (yours truly on extended vacation) and Randy, an internist at the Hilton Head Hospital, would take long walks on the beach regaled by the gentle ripple of the waves. Birds were aplenty, flying every which way as we strolled along. Flora and fauna thrive because bluntly mounted Do’s and Dont’s stare all visitors for strict observance.

Hilton Head, like Boracay, is flocked by tens of thousands of tourists worldwide. In the cleanliness and orderliness criteria where Hilton Head is at the top, Boracay is far, far down. Based on the news reports of my media friend, ace reporter Nestor P. Burgos Jr., here’s a quote on Boracay’s distressful predicament: “After calling Boracay a ‘cesspool’ and ‘full of s***,’ President Rodrigo Duterte, in February, imposed a six-month deadline for government agencies and the local government to solve the resort island’s environmental problems.”

Until then, I hope to be in Boracay again where I can never have enough of sea, sand, and sky.

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Julia Carreon-Lagoc was a Panay News columnist for two decades. She pops up with Accents now and then. (juliaclagoc@yahoo.com)/WDJ