PUERTO GALERA, Oriental Mindoro — A growing backlash is putting Puerto Galera’s revised environmental fee policy under scrutiny, with residents, tourism stakeholders and local figures questioning whether charging fellow Mindoro residents could hurt domestic tourism.
The controversy centers on Municipal Ordinance No. 2025-030, or the Revised Puerto Galera Environmental User’s Fee (EUF) System Ordinance, which was approved on December 11, 2025.
Under the revised system, a P50 environmental user’s fee is being imposed on residents of Mindoro, including those from Oriental and Occidental Mindoro who enter Puerto Galera.
Critics are now calling for the previous exemption for bona fide Mindoro residents to be restored.
The issue gained fresh attention after Mindoro historian Florante Villarica publicly criticized the policy and said he would stop bringing visitors to Puerto Galera if the fee collection proceeds.
Villarica also questioned the practical impact of charging residents who already live within the same province and regularly travel to Puerto Galera.
Tourism officials urge a rethink
Oriental Mindoro Provincial Tourism Officer Dhon Calda has also called for the ordinance to be reviewed, although he emphasized that he was expressing his views as a Puerto Galera resident rather than speaking in his official capacity.
Calda argued that the timing deserves consideration, particularly as the destination competes with other tourism areas for domestic travelers.
The criticism comes despite Puerto Galera’s strong tourism performance in 2026.
According to the Philippine Information Agency, the municipality recorded approximately 250,000 tourist arrivals from January to April 2026, including around 58,000 visitors in April alone. Local officials said arrivals had already surpassed pre-pandemic levels.
That creates a difficult balancing act for the local government: how to raise funds for environmental protection without creating another barrier for visitors who live in Mindoro itself.
Why the fee exists
The environmental user’s fee is not a new concept in Puerto Galera.
The municipality has collected an EUF for years as a financing mechanism for environmental programs, including conservation, solid-waste management and sewage-related initiatives. The earlier fee was P50 per tourist.
The fee structure has since changed.
Under the current ordinance, tourists entering Puerto Galera are subject to a P120 environmental fee, while Puerto Galera residents can be exempted upon presenting the required local identification or documentation. The fee is valid for the duration of a tourist’s stay.
The municipality has also introduced the Puerto Galera Pass, an electronic registration system intended to improve visitor monitoring, tourism planning, emergency response and the implementation of the environmental fee.
The consultation issue
Business owner Emmanuel Lineses has raised another concern: whether stakeholders outside Puerto Galera who could be affected by the revised policy were adequately represented during consultations.
Lineses told the Inquirer that the wording of the ordinance covers all residents of Mindoro, potentially affecting people who travel to Puerto Galera for work or services—not only conventional tourists.
That distinction is at the heart of the growing debate.
Opponents argue that someone from another part of Mindoro traveling to Puerto Galera for business, family matters or other ordinary activities should not necessarily be treated the same way as an outside tourist.
Supporters point to environmental needs
The other side of the debate is the municipality’s continuing need to finance environmental protection in one of the country’s major coastal and diving destinations.
Puerto Galera’s environmental fee system has historically been tied to programs dealing with waste management, conservation and wastewater concerns.
The municipality’s new electronic pass system is likewise being promoted as part of a broader effort to manage tourism growth while protecting the area’s natural resources.
The challenge, therefore, may not simply be whether an environmental fee should exist—but who should pay it, how much they should pay, and whether the collection system fairly distinguishes tourists from local residents.
The bigger question for Puerto Galera
The controversy arrives at a crucial moment for the popular destination.
Puerto Galera is experiencing strong visitor numbers, but the municipality has also faced environmental and infrastructure pressures associated with tourism. In June 2026, the town declared a state of calamity amid a water shortage, although its tourism office said hotels, resorts, restaurants, dive shops and other tourism establishments remained operational.
With tourism recovering strongly, officials now face pressure to protect the environment while keeping Puerto Galera attractive and accessible.
For critics, restoring the exemption for bona fide residents of Oriental and Occidental Mindoro would be a way to protect local tourism and avoid placing an additional burden on people traveling within their own province.
For the municipality, however, the environmental fee remains part of a broader system designed to fund and manage sustainable tourism.
The debate is now moving beyond a P50 charge. It is becoming a question of how Puerto Galera balances environmental protection, local access and the continued growth of its tourism economy.
And with opposition growing, pressure is mounting on local officials to reconsider how the revised ordinance is implemented.
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