DILG: Full Boracay rehab to take 2 years

he full rehabilitation of Boracay Island will take about two years, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said, ahead of the reopening of the worldrenowned beach destination to local and foreign tourists later this month.

“Boracay is now very fresh and very orderly but of course there are still a lot of things to be done for the next two years,” DILG officer-in-charge Eduardo Año said.

He added that while local and foreign tourists will be welcomed back to Boracay during its soft reopening on October 26, it will take about two years to complete the island’s rehabilitation.

Año pointed out that the island is ready to reopen as its immediate problems on violations of environmental and sanitation laws have been addressed after the six-month rehabilitation.

Año said that stricter law enforcement will be observed by authorities for the locals and visitors to avoid the island’s deterioration anew.

“There will be a lot of laws and ordinances to be implemented in Boracay under our [DILG] supervision to make sure that there will be no repeat of what happened before,” Año said.

To carry out measures to save Boracay, the government also created a Boracay Inter-Agency Task Force composed of the DILG, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and the Department of Tourism (DOT).

Meanwhile, Año emphasized that during the soft reopening, only compliant business establishments, or those which have operating sewerage treatment plants (STPs) will be allowed to operate.

The Task Force has previously directed all residents and establishments to set up and use said STPs through clustering or separate treatment plants to keep the waters of Boracay clean and safe.

According to Año, the “no floating structure” ban within three kilometers on the shoreline is also still in effect as part of the campaign to protect the beaches of Boracay. Following the island’s rehabilitation, Año said that the DILG, along with other national government agencies will conduct inspections in other resorts across the country with Boracay as the national standard.

“We will also conduct inspections in all other resorts across the country to ensure that these tourist destinations also comply with the existing environmental laws,” he said.

Año said that beach resorts violating environmental laws will be dealth with accordingly.

The DILG chief said that administrative cases had been filed against erring local government officials of Aklan for the mismanagement of the island.