BORACAY Island, Malay, Aklan—Boracay Island will remain open to tourists this summer.
This was confirmed by Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon T. Teo, who made an aerial survey of Boracay’s resorts and other nearby islands, ahead of the public hearing on the island to be conducted on Friday afternoon by the Senate Committees on Environment and Natural Resources, and on Tourism, with the Committees on Finance, and local government.
“Actually we talked to the tour operators and we said, ‘for summer, if there are already bookings, then they’re okay.’ But during habagat [monsoon] season, we have to disallow that. So we will start telling them, as much as possible, ‘rebook in other places already; skip Boracay.’ But let’s finish the summer tourist bookings first,” she told select reporters upon arrival on the island.
She noted that during the monsoon season, which is from June to September, “there are less tourists anyway, so that’s the most appropriate period to close the island, if the recommendation is indeed a total closure.” She added that the closure could be less than 60 days: “If we could shorten it, the better.”
Teo suggested destinations such as Cebu, Bohol, Masbate, Iloilo, Bacolod, Coron in Palawan, Siargao, Camiguin and Davao as alternatives for local and foreign tourists to visit. “We have many other destinations; in that way, at least the others will also earn more income from more tourists.” In 2017 Boracay Island attracted some 2
million tourists and earned P56 million in visitor receipts for the tourism industry.
Also on an inspection tour of the island is Interior Secretary Eduardo M. Año, who said a decision on whether Boracay would be closed for rehabilitation, could be made as early as the next Cabinet meeting on March 5.
He told reporters that after Thursday’s inspection tour with Teo, there will be another assessment made by the task force on Boracay before finalizing any recommendations to President Duterte. “We are going to weigh between income and safety. For me, I would prefer safety first before income. When Boracay is safe [from environmental damage], then that is good for development and income generation.”
Aside from Teo and Año, Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu is also a member of the task force, which was formed to implement the rehabilitation of Boracay. Duterte gave Año and Cimatu six months to fix the problems of Boracay, or else he will close it.
Año said there were “many other options” that the task force could adopt to meet Duterte’s challenge of rehabilitating Boracay. “With a closure, with no tourists, we could do many things.” The Department of the Interior and Local Government is also recommending that a state of calamity be declared here to allow the national government agencies
to take over the island’s management, fast-track infrastructure projects and address the violations of environmental and easement regulations. “We will be recommending that [state of calamity]to the President, but he will decide whether to approve it or not.” If and when approved, he said, the implementation should be immediate. “We can see the state of Boracay now. It needs to heal,” Año stressed.
On Friday morning, the Senate committees on environment and natural resources and on tourism, along with the committees on finance and on local governments will make an ocular inspection of Boracay Island. After lunch, the same committees will hold a public hearing at Paradise Garden Resort and Convention Center to discuss the local government’s compliance to environmental laws, the severe pollution in Boracay, a proposal for sustainable development of the island, the noncompliance by several Boracay establishments of environmental laws, among others.
Expected on the island today are Senators Cynthia A. Villar, Nancy S. Binay and Emmanuel Joel J. Villanueva.
Meanwhile, Teo acknowledged that Chinese tourists, which accounted for a large bulk of visitor arrivals last year, prefer to come to Boracay, which is the reason there are many charter flights to Kalibo coming from about eight points in mainland China. But, she said, “they’re actually looking at Palawan, and there are some looking at Davao. So we just have to tell them that, while we are fixing Boracay, we will be diverting them to other destinations.”
Last year a total of 968,447 Chinese nationals visited the country, overtaking the Americans to take the second spot in the list of top source markets for tourists. Arrivals from China jumped by 43.33 percent, from 675,663 arrivals in 2016. “This year we are aiming higher, and we are targeting 1.5 million [tourists from China],” Teo said in an earlier news statement.
She underscored that the closure of the island, if indeed implemented, is “only temporary. This is not forever. This is so we could fix Boracay and, eventually, they can go back and, I tell you, it will triple the tourist arrivals in Boracay after the rehab.”