The town of Oslob in southern Cebu lost as much as P35 million in income after whale shark watching activities in the municipality were suspended for four months due to restrictions aimed to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The loss of a major source of income for the town forced local officials to cancel many of their projects, according to Oslob Mayor Jose “Jun” Tumulak Jr. “We’re preparing the town’s budget for next year and we really have to cut several items because we don’t expect to recover our losses within the year,” said Tumulak, without specifying the projects that have to be scrapped.

Semilla, N. (2020, July 18). Cebu's whale shark watching enterprise lost ₱35M. Philippine Daily Inquirer, p. A8.