Bicol town could be next Boracay but locals grumbling amid buzz of Hollywood stars

By Gina Rodriguez and Ephraim Aguilar
Inquirer Southern Luzon

CARAMOAN, CAMARINES SUR--WHAT’S the buzz in this remote, fourth-class municipality?

Rumors of Hollywood stars being filmed on the peninsula’s beaches of powdery white sand are told by word of mouth and in entertainment teasers, blind items, blogs and online discussion boards.

“It’s ‘Survivor,’” the locals say quickly, even if many of them might not have seen a single episode of this famous reality game show.

“Survivor,” which isolates its contestants in the wilderness to compete for cash and prizes, and is known to choose exotic environments as its location, has been taping its French version’s next season here for 28 days now.

Tourism and provincial government officials are tight-lipped about the taping of “Survivor-France” in Caramoan because of a confidentiality agreement signed with its producers.

And the location shoot has been closed off to keep kibitzers away.

Gota beach in Caramoan’s northeastern coast is the jump-off point to islets of limestone, granite and volcanic rocks scattered by the bay near the Philippine sea.

It is an easy 30-minute tricycle ride from the poblacion, and it used to be a public place.

But since the onset of summer, a billboard announcing that the area is “temporarily closed” has been prominently displayed at the entrance to the beach in Barangay Ilawod, at least four kilometers away from the town proper.

The billboard says the “massive developments” accompanying the Camarines Sur government’s construction of resort facilities and amenities are underway, and that the closure is for the “safety and security of everybody.”

Sneak peek

Early this month, an 18-year-old in a yellow shirt who was about to report for housekeeping duties at 7 a.m. managed to give kibitzers a peek of what’s happening in Gota.

According to the teenager, who begged not to be named for fear of losing her job, French guests are occupying 73 newly built cabanas on the beach.

She said she was hired from Naga City and was part of a 30-member housekeeping staff hired as contractual employees by the provincial government to serve the guests.

“I have been working there for more than two months now and my contract will end in a week’s time (or on April 15). But there will be a housekeeping staff here until the ‘Survivor’ taping is over,” she said.

A printed schedule—shown to the Inquirer by an employee of the municipal government of Caramoan on condition of anonymity—states that the duration of the shoot is from March 26 to May 3.

Edwin Remodo, administrator of the municipal government, said a memorandum of agreement (MOA) justifying the building of tourism-related infrastructure in Gota was signed between the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Protected Area Management Board and Camarines Sur during the term of then Caramoan Mayor Francis Benimerito.

The provincial government gained the right to manage and administer the Caramoan National Park, specifically Gota beach, which covers around 298 hectares, at the signing of the MOA on March 16, 2005, according to a copy of the agreement furnished the Inquirer.

The signatories were then Environment Secretary Michael Defensor (for the DENR-PAMB) and Gov. Luis Raymund “LRay” Villafuerte Jr. (for Camarines Sur.

Mum’s the word

Caramoan Mayor Constantino Cordial was on an official trip when the Inquirer visited his office to seek his comments on the closure of Gota beach.

He refused to issue a statement even on his mobile phone, saying he would rather speak with reporters personally.

In the poblacion, no one could describe the magnitude of the purported “massive developments” at Gota beach.

There is a gag imposed on anyone privy to the activities in the closed-off area, starting with the civilian security men at the outpost near the billboard.

A youthful guard, who said he had come from Naga for the job, expressed the hope that visitors would understand that he was under instructions to disclose nothing, particularly to media people.

A tall man in a red shirt living in one of the huts near the security outpost said some of the residents were opposed to the closure of what used to be a public space.

But the man, who was hired as an occasional laborer for the construction work inside, said he was cooperating because he was optimistic that the developments would benefit the townsfolk themselves.

Vincent Balmaceda, a graduating accountancy student of Ateneo de Naga University who spends each summer vacation in Caramoan with his family, is annoyed that the beach is suddenly off-limits.

But like most other poblacion folk, the 21-year-old knows that the closure is meant to ensure the unhampered filming of “Survivor.”

Reopening in June

Apparently aware of the brickbats generated by the closure of Gota beach, Villafuerte said the beaches in Caramoan were there even before he became governor and that the town had been known as one of the poorer places in the Philippines.

“The problem is now that there are developments ongoing, marami nang nagsusulsol (many tongues are wagging),” he said on the phone.

Villafuerte said Gota beach was off-limits for three months because it was being rented for exclusive use for filming and to make way for the construction activities.

He said the target reopening date was in June, and that the media would be sent invitations to visit in May.

“How can you open it to the public now when there is filming and construction? Paano kung may makaapak ng pako (What if somebody steps on a nail)?” Villafuerte said in exasperation.

According to the governor, the amenities provided for the production team at the beach are to ensure that they will have a pleasant experience during their stay, “para bumalik (so they will return).”

He said the Caramoan government would benefit much from the development projects in terms of investors and jobs.

“What we’re trying to show here is that with such limited funds, we can earn much through ecotourism,” he said.

2 Hollywood films

Villafuerte confirmed that two Hollywood films are in the works for possible shooting on Caramoan’s picturesque beaches. (The rumor is that one of these stars is California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, but Villafuerte neither confirmed nor denied this.)

The model for development in Caramoan is the CamSur Watersports Complex (CWC), which is enjoyed by rich and poor, Villafuerte said, adding that it should be “maganda (beautiful), accessible and affordable.”

In mid-2006, the provincial government put up the CWC, an extreme-sports facility in a six-ha cable park complex with a 4.5-ha oval artificial lake around a mounted island.

Located in the 118-ha provincial capitol complex, the cable park is second in the country but the first one owned by a local government unit.

Villafuerte said the provincial government was “implementing a P200-million development plan” in Caramoan.

“We are working to make the place more accessible by land, air and sea so that it can become a tourist destination,” he said.

He pointed out that Caramoan could be the next Boracay, with the difference that development projects were being carefully planned so it would not become like the latter—“overloaded” and plagued with sewage problems.

He said that in the future, he intended to address the road network and airport facility to make travel easy for visitors.