Clean Boracay up or I will close it – Duterte

Calling one of the country’s most famous resort islands a cesspool, President Duterte has given marching orders to former Armed Forces chief of staff and now Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu: Clean Boracay Island up in six months or “I will close it.”

Reports reaching the President showed that 11 of the 180 establishments inventoried by the DENR have unconnected sewerage system and their waste materials go directly to the drainage canal.

“I will close Boracay. Boracay is a cesspool. Now, during days when I was there, ‘yung basura (the garbage) was just 20 meters away from the beach,” Duterte told a business forum in Davao City late Friday.

“So I told Cimatu, ‘I’ll give you six months. Clean the godd*mn thing,’” he added.

Sooner or later, the President said tourists may not enjoy Boracay anymore.

“You go into the water, it’s smelly. Smell of what? Sh*t. Kasi lahat doon, ang palabas nila, sa (Their waste go straight to the waters of) Boracay,” he said.

“It’s destroying the environment, or the Republic of the Philippines, and creating a disaster coming,” he added.

“There will be a time that no more foreigner will go there because when he goes back to the plane to where he belongs, he will be full of sh*t, going back and forth to the restroom,” he continued.

In October last year, Cimatu proposed the creation of a national body to manage the popular beach island instead of leaving its management to the local government.

This week, Cimatu said the President “approved in principle” an Executive Order (EO) that would help address the problems in Boracay Island during their Cabinet Meeting.

Cimatu said Tourism secretary Wanda Teo recommended the creation of a task force to address the problems in Boracay Island, particularly the environmental compliance of resorts.

The DENR secretary will chair the task force with representatives from the DOT and the Interior and Local Government as members.

The DOT earlier said about 100 commercial establishments in Boracay have improper waste management and vowed to cancel their accreditation.

The local government of Malay which has jurisdiction over the errant resort owners vowed to cancel their business permit forcing them to stop operations. (Argyll Cyrus B. Geducos)