Philippines vows to protect environment

Manila: The Philippines' drive to attract more tourists must be balanced against environmental concerns after sewage spills and flooding triggered a construction halt on its most famous beach resort, a senior official said.

Lito Atienza, the environment secretary, ordered all building on Boracay, a tiny island south of Manila renowned for its powdery white sands, to stop for six months after development overwhelmed facilities and threatened to destroy the island's pristine reputation.

Sewage was released into the sea and, with most beachfront areas already gobbled up, even the island's forests were being cut down to make way for more hotels.

"If we don't control development on Boracay island and in fact on all the other islands we may lose the very essence of attraction," said Atienza. "The uncontrolled development that has poured into the island has overloaded it.

Nearly 600,000 tourists visited Boracay last year, nearly four times the number of 10 years ago, and the Philippines has a goal of raising arrivals there by 10 per cent each year.