Sometimes it is hard to look past the seemingly endless commercialization of the island and see what makes Boracay a real place.

Boracay is slowly becoming one of the Philippines’ leading environmental hotspots, drawing many eco-conscious travelers from many parts of the globe. Scientific experts and nature lovers find in the island a working ecosystem that is slowly coming to terms with what many would call progress. Some say Boracay is indeed a magic island, and its plight is being seen like a beacon throughout the world. Where else in our country can you find a diverse group of people, from different walks of life, taking off their shoes to walk down the beaches as a community to pick up trash for free? To plant trees, reject chemical products, rally and sing for the sake of a place that many of them didn’t hail from yet nevertheless consider their home?

A Boracay elder once said, in times of trouble the island will have a way of healing itself. It will send out a call so primal and ancient that we feel it in our hearts. And we agree. So we search for these people who have created small worthy organizations or inspired ways of thinking that has led many to look at Boracay as something other than a promo flight destination. A place, after all, is not real if it does not have a soul. So here we present the soul of the island. A multi-cultural soup of faces and hearts that has never once given up in their fight to change Boracay’s reputation. Here is Boracay as it should be through the eyes and ears of the people who live in it, love it, and made it their home. (Words: Maffi Deparis)