The Informer

Six mornings a week in Boracay, you can hear The Informer coming in over the radios in the backs of sunglass shops, convenience stores and hotel lobbies.

You can tell it's The Informer because his is the island's only public affairs show. Everything else on the radio is music.

For four hours a day, The Informer takes calls, does interviews and talks about the social concerns of the island.

"The objective of the program is to be part of the development of the island," said The Informer himself, Jonathan Cabrera, "to inform the public because if the public doesn't know what is going on, how can we cooperate with it."

Cabrera, 31, started the program in September of 2008 to cover the pressing issues of the island.

Issues like the sewage system. "The installed sewage cannot cater to the volume of tourists," said Cabrera, "the demand is too big. The system gets backed up and floods during the rainy season."

And prostitution is illegal here, but it still happens. Cabrera believes that the number of prostitutes on the island is increasing. "You can tell that it is, because every night there there are new faces. And you know who they are. You're like, 'Oh, you?'."

"It's a small island," he said.

Recently the government rolled back the tricycle fare from 10 pesos to 7 pesos. Because Cabrera announced it on his program, his listeners knew what was up. And when tric drivers refused to make the change, people called The Informer to report them.

"So I interview someone from the government on air," said Cabrera. "I interview the transport group and asked them their position. And pretty soon they agreed to charge the right fare."

He talks a lot about mismanagement. And about the lack of coordination between the local government and the national government.

"I want the program to be a forum where the community can talk to government and NGOs. To the leaders," said Cabrera. "The program is the forum to resolve the conflict between the two."