After drawing flak, tourism event promoting Hundred Islands National Park probed

Debris from lanterns released during an event in Alaminos have worried environmentalists. —RAMIL RAPUES/CONTRIBUTOR

DAGUPAN CITY—The city government of Alaminos is investigating the environmental impact of a promotional event last week which drew flak for allowing 5,000 balloons and 5,000 sky lanterns to, according to environmentalists, pollute the Hundred Islands National Park.

It is also looking into the legality and benefits of the Spark Hundred Islands undertaken by the Triple 8 Travel and Tours, said Sol Tablang, city tourism officer.

The Oct. 29 event, however, was endorsed by the Alaminos government, and was cleared by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

Hundreds of people, many of them tourists, released the sky lanterns and balloons at the Lucao Wharf, the gateway to the national park.

Environmentalists criticized the event, saying the balloons could have landed in the sea and been eaten by marine animals like dolphins. Balloons may be toxic to sea animals, they said.

Tablang said they let loose balloons and lanterns in a trial on Oct. 28, a day before the event, and organizers had determined that the wind would push the balloons inland.

After the event, government workers went around coastal villages to check if balloons and lantern debris fell there, but residents did not report finding any, he said.

Venus Balgua, city information officer, said the city government and the organizer would address all concerns and would abide by recommendations of the DENR and the tourism office.

In a statement posted online, the Triple 8 Travel and Tours said the company and the city government “understand the environmental effects and with the use of existing waste disposal of the city both in land and sea, we went ahead with the project.”

A permit was issued by the Pangasinan provincial environment and natural resources office on Oct. 28. “Because the Hundred Islands is one of the first national parks in the Philippines, extreme measures were planned even before the event to guarantee zero to minimal environmental damages,” the company said.

It said the hydrogen gas used to inflate the balloons transformed into water vapor when released into the air. Balloons that would fly toward the city center would be easier to collect and dispose, it said.

It added that the materials used for the sky lanterns were “completely biodegradable and the paper and the base were all nontoxic.”  —YOLANDA SOTELO