〔 90 〕 農林業問題研究（第 182 号・2011 年 6 月）

Valuing the Beachscape Beauty of Caramoan, the Philippines:

Towards Establishing A User Fee System for Sustainable Ecotourism
and Coastal Resource Management

Raul G. Bradecina (Partido State University)

Asa Jose U. Sajise (University of the Philippines Los Banos)
Teruyuki Shinbo (Kochi University)

フィリピン・カラモアン地域における沿岸環境の価値評価：
持続可能なエコツーリズムと沿岸資源管理のための利用料金システム

ラウル・ギガ・ブラデシナ（パルティド州立大学）
アサ・ホセ・U・サヒセ（フィリピン大学ロスバニョス校）
新保輝幸（高知大学）

本研究では，フィリピン・カラモアン地域の沿 半数が海岸景観の保全への支払いに同意し，提示
岸景観保全に向けた WTP を推定するために CVM 額を拒否した者の約 7 割が抵抗回答であった．抵
を適用した．まず回答者は多くが教育を受けた若 抗回答を除き不確かな回答を調整した推計では，
い世代で比較的裕福な階層であった．また沿岸へ 平均 WTP は年額 1,147 ペソとなった．この高い
のゴミ散逸や汚染，ダイナマイト漁等が沿岸環境 WTP はアクセスが悪いため残された原生的な自
の保全における主要な管理問題となっているが， 然に起因すると考えられる．集計 WTP は年額
保全へ向けた管理権限の設定や，沿岸保全や漁業 13,764,000 ペソであった．今後，沿岸資源管理の
関連の法規制に対する住民の認知が観光の持続可 全体的な開発計画に基づいた利用料金の徴収シス
能性に効果的と認識されていた．回答者のおよそ テムについて検討が急がれる．

1. Introduction spans two governing institutions in the area under differ-

Caramoan, Philippines is a town endowed with nature’s
beauty preserved by its seclusion. The primary attraction
of the area is the scenic view of the beachscapes which is
defined by unique geologic configurations, white sands and
clear waters. Its beauty is further boosted by unexplored
lakelets, subterranean passages and caves in small lime-
stone islands (Escandor, 2010). Caramoan is remotely situ-
ated at the southernmost tip of Luzon Island and at the
eastern portion of Camarines Sur Province. It is 501 km
from the capital city of Metro Manila (Figure 1).
Within Caramoan is a Natural Protected Area estab-
lished under the National Integrated Protected Area
System Law (NIPAS). It is considered as one of the key
biodiversity areas (KBA) in the country and supports
various ecosystems including lowland forest, mangrove
and coral reef. The contiguous nature of the beachscapes
ent institutional arrangements that create an institutional
dilemma as to their overall management. The manage-
ment of beachscapes within the protected area is placed
under the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) by
virtue of the NIPAS in partnership with the provincial
government, while management of the beachscapes out-
side the protected area, is placed under the municipal gov-
ernment by virtue of the Local Government Code (LGC).
The open-access nature of coastal areas, lack of employ-
ment opportunities and institutional weakness compound-
ed the impacts of threats to coastal and upland ecosystems
in Caramoan. Dynamite fishing, mangrove cutting and
small-scale beach sand quarrying resulted in reduced coral
cover, decline of fish population and siltation in some areas
(Pelea et al., 2005). Selective logging, slash and burn
farming and cutting of trees for domestic use reduced the

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 個別報告論文
Figure 1. Location of the study area in the
Philippines
population of some endemic birds and reptiles in the
upland areas (Bird Life International, 2010).
Four years ago, Caramoan was unknown in the tourism
communities. It generated local and international media
attention when the international series of the hit reality
show “Survivor” was alternately filmed by French, Israel
and Bulgarian televisions in the area from 2008 until last
year (Aguilar, 2010). Since then, local and foreign travelers
started to explore its beaches. The influx of tourism in the
future could further undermine the beachscapes’ aesthetic
quality and ecosystems.
The government institutions in Caramoan are starting
to seriously consider the management and conservation of
the beachscapes as main ecotourism assets. However, a
sustainable source of funding for the purpose is a major
constraint. This study estimated the willingness to pay for
the conservation of beachscape beauty of Caramoan as
input in establishing user fee system for sustainable ecot-
ourism and coastal resource management.
2. Methods
Preliminary activities included exploratory visit, key
informant interviews and training of enumerators. A
pre-test of the questionnaire and the contingent scenario
brochure with simple photos was conducted to 50 respon-
dents using bid amounts of PhP 100, 250, 500, 750 and
1000. A final survey was conducted using final bid amounts
of PhP 100, PhP 450, PhP 950, PhP 1250 and PhP 1800.
The sample respondents were directly assigned to the bid
amounts. The respondents in the study were the local
tourists who have stayed for a day in Caramoan and are
earning income. A total of 1,000 respondents were inter-
viewed between January and April, 2010 using drop-off and
face-to-face intercept strategies.
The questionnaire consisted of respondents’ perceptions
on local coastal environment and governance, attitude on
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conservation, willingness to pay for conservation and socio-
economic status. The brochure consisted of information on
the status of the beachscapes, its threats, description of
worst scenario, recent initiatives by the municipality to
address the threats, and the hypothetical trust fund and
fee collection mechanism for conservation. After reminding
the respondents of their personal income constraints in giv-
ing answers, the valuation question was posed as follows:
“Let me take you back to the time that you were thinking
of going to Caramoan. Would you have come if you knew
that there was a PhP ____ entrance fee?; and that this fee
were to be managed by the Municipal Government and the
Tourism Management Council and used solely for the pur-
pose of protecting the beachscapes’ beauty and ecosystem?
_ Yes (Go to No.2 & 3) _ No (Go to No. 4)
Response certainty questions as well as reasons for
unwillingness to pay were incorporated into the question-
naire in consideration of some socio-cultural context in
the area such as lack of experience in answering CVM
surveys by local respondents and scenario rejection which
could cause bias.
The response certainty question as presented below,
clarifies how certain respondents are about their positive
WTP answers (Loomis and Ekstrand, 1998) as cited by
Endab (2007). Reasons for willingness to pay were provid-
ed in question number 3:
“If you answered yes, how certain are you that you would
pay? Please indicate the degree of certainty:
___ Very unsure
____ Not sure
____ Sure
____ Very sure
Reasons for unwillingness to pay were provided in
question number 4 to check off the respondents’ motive
behind a negative response. Four of these reasons such as:
“Only the fishers and resort owners who benefits should
pay”; “Only the rich should pay”; “Majority of the poor
will be affected; and “I do not believe that the money I pay
will be used for conservation” were considered as “protest
votes”. Some researchers consider protest votes as non-
zero value response and need not be included in further
analysis (Loomis et al., 1994) as cited by Subade (2005).
Others insist to include protest zero bids as true zero bids
(Halstead et al. 1992).
Four data sets were generated namely: uncensored
response, certainty response-adjusted; protest response-
adjusted; and combined certainty-adjusted and protest
〔 92 〕 農林業問題研究（第 182 号・2011 年 6 月）

response-adjusted. Overall, four models were considered Table 1. Sociodemographic characteristics of

in the analysis using STATA. Model 1 deals with the the respondents
uncensored response data set whereby “no” responses
were considered as legitimate zero valuation. Model 2 Parameters n %
deals with the certainty-adjusted response data set where- Gender
in uncertain yes responses were recoded to zero. Model 3 Male 467 47.0
Female 533 53.0
deals with the protest-adjusted response data set whereby Civil Status
the “no” responses with “protest votes” were censored. Single 589 59.0
Model 4, considered as the preferred model, deals with Married 394 39.0
Widow/er 17 2.0
combined certainty and protest response adjusted data
Educational Attainment
sets. Observations with monthly income of PhP 2,000 and Elementary level 0 0.0
below, as well PhP 400,000 and above were deemed unre- Elementary Graduate 0 0.0
alistic and considered outliers. A total of 25 observations High School Level 3 0.3
High School Graduate 11 1.1
were outliers and not included in the logit analysis. College Level 84 8.4
Incorporating certainty and censoring protest response Vocational Level 19 1.9
can address cultural context strategic behaviors that often College Graduate 760 76.0
Graduate 123 12.3
result to fat-tail problem. The common occurrence of fat-
tail problem associated with open-ended, stated preference
CV has been discussed in literatures (Whittington, et al. Table 2. Rank of local coastal environment and
2000; Subade and Jugado, 2010). This study also tested environment governance issues known
such occurrence. to respondents

Number
3. Results and Discussion
Environmental and of responses Weighted
[1] Socioeconomic Characteristics of the Respondents Rank
Governance Issues by rank Mean
The socioeconomic characteristics of the respondents
1 2 3
are shown in Table 1. On the average, the respondents’
age is 33.4 years old and has monthly income of PhP Cyanide fishing 0 57 63 2.525 11
Compressor fishing 6 20 12 2.158 5
26,319. These indicate that the average visitors in Siltation 7 9 12 2.179 6
Caramoan are young, highly educated and moderately Blast fishing 56 56 56 2.000 2
affluent. In 2007, Filipino families with monthly income Sand quarrying 54 77 58 2.021 3
Littering on the beach 456 187 153 1.619 1
ranging from PhP 20,920 to PhP 170,440 are considered
Small scale mining 14 46 49 2.321 10
middle class. Considered poor are families with monthly Overcrowding of
income below PhP 6,105 which is the country’s poverty tourists 34 86 96 2.287 8
threshold (Devpulse, 2008). Unregulated fishing 36 74 86 2.255 7
Unplanned,
[2] Awareness of Local Coastal and Environment
proliferation of
Governance Issues houses, resorts,
The respondents’ awareness of local coastal and envi- infrastructure 147 286 243 2.142 4
ronmental governance issues presented in Table 2 indicat- Cutting of mangroves,
ed the area’s weakness on solid waste management as vegetation 70 99 168 2.291 9

well as the presence of unsustainable economic activities

that exert pressure on the tourism assets. Note that
“rank” means the order of importance of an issue that was
evaluated from weighted mean.
[3] Perceived Institutional and Management Issues
Impacting Beachscapes Sustainability
The issues concerning sustainable source of fund for
conservation, political and harmonized institutional arrange-
ment for beachscape tourism and management are highly
considered by the respondents to impact the long term
sustainability of the beachscapes in Caramoan (Table 3).
[4] Attitude towards Conservation of Beachscapes
Majority of the respondents (98%) expressed positive
attitude for the conservation of beachscapes. There is not
much wide difference in the dominant percentage of positive

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Table 3. Rank of institutional and management Table 4. Reasons why respondents are willing
issues perceived by respondents to or unwilling to pay
impact sustainability of beachscapes
Reasons n %
Number of Willing To Pay
Institutional and responses Weighted It will improve law enforcement 13 3
by rank Rank
Management Issues Mean It will lessen the threats to coral reefs,
1 2 3 mangrove and seagrass beds 64 13
It will provide livelihood 31 6
Sustainable source of
It will promote equitable sharing of benefits 34 7
fund for conservation 264 102 117 1.696 1
It will provide steady source of fund for
Enforcement of
management 95 19
environment and
fisheries related laws 97 164 94 1.992 4 It will sustain the good quality of water 19 4
Institutional It will maintain the cleanliness of fine white
frameworks for sand 55 11
ecosystem It will promote sustainable use of beachscape 183 37
governance 42 77 107 2.288 9 Total 494 100
Geographic and Unwilling To Pay
political jurisdictions I do not think conservation of beachscape
between local and beauty is necessary 5 1
provincial I cannot afford to pay for the program 129 25
governments 56 105 68 2.052 5
I prefer to give money to humanitarian cause
Political issues 119 44 54 1.700 2 instead 6 1
Harmonized Only the fishers and resort owners who
institutional directly benefit from its beaches should pay 83 16
arrangement and
Only the rich should pay for this 25 5
mechanisms for
beachscape tourism Majority of the poor will be affected 62 12
management 118 110 107 1.967 3 I do not believe that the money I will pay will
Comprehensive be used for the conservation of beachscape
management plan for beauty 196 39
ecotourism and Total 506 100
conservation of
beachscape 163 194 192 2.053 6 correlated with WTP throughout the four CVM models
Awareness for (Table 5). Attitude towards conservation was significant
conservation 59 138 154 2.271 8
and positively correlated with WTP only in Uncorrected
Technical capability for
management 78 62 102 2.099 7 and Certainty-adjusted models.
The negative vectors of bid amount and age and the
responses in all bids, although it was not tested statistically. positive vector of income are consistent with the study
[5] Proportion of Respondents Willing and Unwilling hypothesis. The negative correlation of bid amount to WTP
to Pay for Conservation of Beachscapes implies that the probability of the respondents’ willingness
There is almost equal proportion on the respondents that to pay for the conservation decreases as bid amount in-
expressed unwillingness (50.6%) and willingness (49.4%). creases. The negative correlation of age to WTP indicates
[6] Reasons for Willingness and Unwillingness to that younger respondents are more likely willing to pay.
Pay for Conservation of Beachscapes This is an a priori expectation since environment conserva-
Promoting the sustainability of the beachscapes topped tion is an investment in the future; younger people who
the respondents’ motivation for willingness to pay. On the expect to enjoy such investment for longer period are more
other hand, mistrust on the proper use of the money paid likely to pay. The positive correlation of income to WTP
for conservation are among the relevant considerations indicates that respondents with higher income are more
that underlie the protest votes (Table 4). likely willing to pay. High-income respondents put premium
[7] Parametric Logistic Regressions on environmental improvements compared with their
The bid amount, age, and income were significantly lower-income counterparts (Seenprachawong, 2001).

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〔 94 〕 農林業問題研究（第 182 号・2011 年 6 月）

[8] Parametric and Non-Parametric Mean WTP
The parametric mean WTP under the Combined certain-
ty-adjusted and protest-adjusted model was PhP 1,147. This
estimate is considerably higher than the WTP values in
similar studies in the Philippines which range between PhP
49 and 545 per visit (Padilla et al., 2005). If the time value of
money will be factored in, the estimated WTP closely
approximates the value generated by Subade (2005) for
Tubbataha Reef Marine Park seascapes five years ago. The
secluded and the pristine nature of the site probably
explained for the higher WTP. The WTP estimates for the
rest of the models did not deviate much: Protest-adjusted
model was slightly higher; while the Uncensored and the
Certainty-adjusted models yielded relatively lower WTP
estimates. A similar trend and a closer estimate were
derived for both the non-parametric WTP mean and median
values implying its robustness (Table 6).
The probability curves of the models shown in Figure 2
did not reach zero. This could be credited to an oversight
associated with the survey design wherein higher income
respondents were not covered when the pre-test was
conducted. The conduct of the pre-test coincided with the
rainy month of December which probably prevented the
relatively affluent respondents in farther yet progressive
regions like Metro Manila, from visiting the area because
of weather constraints.
4. Conclusions and Recommendations
The higher WTP for Caramoan beachscapes is common
for newly established ecotourism destinations that feature
exclusivity and pristine nature. The negative correlation
of age to WTP suggests that tourism should be packaged
targeting young and adventurous visitors.
Consistent with rational choice behavior, majority of the
respondents expressed positive attitude for beachscape
Table 6. Parametric and Non-Parametric Mean
WTP estimates for the different models

Table 5. Significant variables affecting WTP Parametric Non-Parametric

No. of
Model Std.
Obs. Mean Mean Median
Model Model Model Model
Dev
1 2 3 4
Variables 1 (Uncensored) 975 897 294 873 683
Protest+
Certainty Protest 2 (Certainty-
Uncensored Certainty 975 563 280 673 379
-adjusted -adjusted adjusted)
adjusted
3 (Protest-
Constant .8467532 .0814624 5.440678 2.542522 621 1,708 249 1,332 —
adjusted)
.0015613 .0016287 .0017068 .0014496
Bid 4 (Certainty+
(0.000)** (0.000)** (0.000)** (0.000)** 621 1,147 271 1,006 976
Protest adjusted)
.039265 .0461732 .2093317 .1323797
Gender
(0.784) (0.754) (0.335) (0.470)
.0412971 .0433655 .0383502 .0370107
Age
(0.000)** (0.000)** (0.003)** (0.001)**
.0412971 0.16748 .0263536 .0451128
Civil Status
(0.801) (0.922) (0.911) (0.829)
.0112675 .0673712 .1020533 .0286563
Education
(0.849) (0.276) (0.223) (0.698)
8.15e-07 7.90e-07 7.42e-07 6.91e-07
Income
(0.006)** (0.007)** (0.087)** (0.053)**
Attitude
1.470745 1.212579 .1179345 .3032096
Towards
(0.005)** (0.025)** (0.916) (0.064)
Conservation

No. of
975 975 621 621
observations
LR
188.56 192.84 106.98 107.58
Chi-square
Prob>
0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
Chi square
Pseudo R
0.1395 0.1484 0.1620 0.1290
square Figure 2. Probability curve of saying“Yes”to given
** significant at p.(z) 5% level, values in parenthesis are p-values amounts

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 個別報告論文
conservation, but when confronted with hypothetical obli-
gation for paying conservation fees, only one half ex-
pressed willingness to pay. The awakening for environ-
mental concern among young and educated inspired by
the aggressive climate change adaptation campaign in the
Philippines explained for the higher proportion of conser-
vation-oriented respondents. The decision of the signifi-
cant half of those who responded positively for conserva-
tion but were not willing to pay can be attributed to public
misgivings about how the conservation fees will be man-
aged by the relevant institutions. This underscores the
need for stakeholders’ consultation prior to the establish-
ment of a user fee system in the area using the WTPs
estimated in this study as benchmark.
The commonality of environmental issues associated
with lack of employment opportunities, and perceived
institutional weaknesses underscores the development of
Caramoan tourism in the context of coastal resource
management that promotes participatory governance and
livelihood.
The aggregate amount of conservation fees that can be
generated from Caramoan using the selected Certainty and
Protest-adjusted model’s mean WTP of PhP 1,147 and
monthly average of 1,000 tourists in 2008 is estimated at
PhP 13,764,000 per year. The amount clearly exceeds the
PhP 700,000 annual total cost of tourism management. This
will justify public investments for management and conser-
vation of the beachscapes and coastal resources in Caramoan.
Dealing with protest votes and absolutely uncertain yes
answers as adopted in this study mitigated the potential
effects of the cultural contexts inherent in developing
country like the Philippines. This study also derived a
fat-tail probability curve similar with results generated
elsewhere (Whittington, 1998).
Acknowledgement
This research was funded by the Environmental
Economics Program for Southeast Asia-UP Los Banos-
College of Economics and Management (EEPSEA-UPLB-
CEM). The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
(JSPS) supported its presentation and publication.
Comments and suggestions solicited from Prof. Yoshinori
Morooka helped a lot in improving the manuscript.
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