Asian History: Island of Boracay

The Island belongs to the Western Visayas group and is located in the northwestern tip of Panay, in the west Visayas of Region VI, neighboring the Sibuyan Sea. The island has three major Villages namely; Yapak in the North, Balabag in the middle, and Manoc-Manoc in the south, and numerous small barrios or barangays or sitios, all linked together by a maze of paths, labeled into five commercial stations.

The Origin:

The name Boracay is attributed to different origins. One story dates back to the Spanish era saying the name is derived from "sagay," the word for shell, and "boray," the word for seed.

The other version says that it is derived from the local word "borac" which means white cotton with characteristics close to the color and texture of Boracay's white sugary and powdery sand. Another credits the name to local words "bora," meaning bubbles, and "bocay," meaning white. Yet another version is the one relayed by officials of one town in Panay attributing the name of the island to a certain man whose family is from the Tirols of Panay. As the story goes one tuba gatherer in the island, while gathering his coconut oil for that day overheard the conversation of a couple talking about the foamy white bubbles emanating from the ocean. We will later on know who the couple the name of the island is attributed to.

The Language:

Akeanon is predominantly spoken in Aklan. Other than Tagalog/Filipino and other local vernaculars, English is widely spoken in the island.

The Livelihood:

The source of living was mainly fishing. Then later farming was introduced by the local settlers so that coconut and tobacco plantation and vegetation provided for the livelihood of the Boracaynon settlers. They would trade copra with Aklan and in some parts of Luzon for rice and other goods. In the 1960s and 1970s, families from Panay and neighboring towns became frequent visitors to the island.

The Settlers:

Antropological studies suggests that the Ati were the original settlers in the island but interbred and/or crossbred with other people we now called the "Boracayons".

The couple:

Lamberto Hontiveros Tirol and Sofia Ner Gonzales

They settled in the island in the 1900s when Lamberto H. Tirol, after serving as a Mayor of Makato, became a Judge or "Juez" in Buruanga, an old name for Malay. Sofia had a small lot in the area where they constructed a small shelter. Later on, a number of islanders sold their lots to the couple, until a relatively large area was occupied by the family. As the story goes the couple would go round and about the sea shore while conversing. It is but a good timing for that tuba gatherer to have at one time overheard the couple talked about the island's froathy bubbles, attributing to the couple, particularly Lamberto, as the author of the name "boracay".

It was reported by the locals and documented by the Bureau of Lands sometime in 1920 particularly by the Office of the Land Inspector in Buruanga, District 17, that it was Lamberto who founded the barrio of Yapac in 1913, a portion of the island he bought from some islanders in addition to the already owned lot by Sofia adjoining thereto. At that time, Yapac only constituted seven houses and one barrio church.

Lamberto, or Lamber as he was fondly called by the islanders, was a good provider, he worked hard to earned his own keep and to give his family a good life. Sofia, or Sofing, as she was fondly called by her fellow Boracaynons, was a green thumb, a good administratrix and a good employer. While Lamberto work, she and her workers would go around and about the island planting trees and vegetables. She was able to plant thousands of coconut trees along with corn and tobacco. Her main product was that of tobacco and copra. It was written that she was able to produce first class tobacco which were traded from all over Luzon. In 1987, she was esteemed as “The Woman Behind The Greening of Boracay” in The Sunday Times Magazine. The same was reprinted in 1998 by a local paper in Panay.

It was an early demise for Lamberto. He died sometime in 1924, a year of mourning not just for the family he left behind but also for the Boracaynons. He was, to them, a father, a trustworthy “Amoy” and a friend. He left behind a young widow to tend their orphaned children. Despite her broken heart, she maintained that composure of a strong willed woman, continued to take care of the island, made it into something the world would call "Island Paradise."

With the help of a nephew Josefino Sta Maria Tirol, Sofia was able to place her portion in the island under the Torrens System. In 1929, Sofia was granted a title in her favor and for the Heirs of Lamberto Hontiveros Tirol. At that time, Aklan was still part of Capiz, so was Malay, so that the Ordinary Registration Proceedings for Titling over Panay was lodge in the Courts of First Instance in Capiz Area. In 1931, Honorable Enrique Altavaz of the General Land Registration Office issued giving formally a torrens title over a large portion of the island.

Sofia's ground work gained her the appreciation she much deserved. In 1987, in a magazine (The Sunday Times Magazine, November, 1987), an article was written about the woman behind the greening of Boracay. The article was about Sofia Ner Gonzales. Today, the island remained to be as Sofia intended it to be: an Island Paradise. She would have wanted it the way it was: with all the coconut trees standing almost everywhere, including bended cocos that gave the island the unique scenery peculiarly exclusive to Boracay. Sadly, those trees are no longer there. Environment and legal issues beset the island. Government intervention seem to aggravate the matter. Nonetheless, Boracay remained one of the best beaches in the world.

Modern Day Boracay:

1970 marks the beginning of the Modern Age of Boracay Island. Even though electricity arrived in the late 1980, visitors came pouring in, bringing along their own amenities, especially water to drink. In the early fifties, or right after the War (WWII), business, great and small, began to blossom in the island. On some parts, dirt or rocky or smooth roads gave way to paved ones.

A large portion of Boracay is state – owned, except for the lots of Lamberto H. Tirol and Sofia Ner Gonzales, along with the others like Ciriaco Tirol and other Aklan-rooted kin who were able to obtained land titles over portions of the island in the early pre-war years. Among the private owners are the heirs of Don Lamberto H. Tirol and Sofia Ner Gonzales, the heirs of Don Ciriaco Tirol, the Elizalde, Carpio, Andan, Solidum, Rojo, Kimpo, Dignos, Sarabia, Menez, Kimpo, Dimacali, Tan, Marte, and Tan, among others.

Recent Supreme Court confirmed and upheld the pronouncement that the Philippine State has the ownership of the island of Boracay except in the cases of the Tirol Family of Aklan and their predecessors in interests whose rights are preferred.

Various government agencies vowed to protect and preserve boracay. We believe that is likewise the sentiments of the inhabitants of the island

Despite issues being faced by the island today, people still flocked in the island. Boracay’s first visitors were mainly Europeans – German tourists, and the Swiss even jokingly called Boracay a ‘Canton of Switzerland’ or so we heard. Eventually, more foreigners visit the island which contributed to the multicultural facets of Boracay’s culinary choices and the island’s further development in terms of accommodation, activities, and eating. Nowadays, Boracay is not a private and unspoilt paradise like it used to be under the watch of Dona Sofing, but a major tourist and holiday destination for the Philippines.

Sofia would have wanted the island to stay as it was, with millions of trees resting peacefully and happily on white sugar-coated sands of the island, with few joyous people relaxing by watching the calm and serene blue ocean touching the blue heavens... But times changed and the rest had to change with time. Some of its secrets are now in the open. Its privacy may have been lost with the deluge of visitors it attracts every year, but it doesn't seem to matter. People from all over the world continue to flock to its brilliant powdery white sands and shores and aquamarine waters.

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