Bye-bye Boracay: Duterte shuts ‘party island’ to tourists

BORACAY: The Philippines shuttered its most famous holiday island Boracay to tourists yesterday for a six-month cleanup, which the government has imposed with a muscular show of its security forces.

Coast guard boats were on patrol and assault rifle-wielding police were posted at entry points to the once-pristine island that has become tainted by heavy commercialisation and overdevelopment.

Regional police head Cesar Binag said the shutdown began past midnight, with tourists barred from boarding the ferry that is the main way onto the island.

“Boracay is officially closed to tourists. We are not closing establishments but tourists cannot enter. We are implementing the instruction of the president,” Police Chief Superintendent Binag said.

About 600 policemen were deployed, with some performing life-like drills including riot officers battling bottle-hurling protesters and mock hostage taking of sunbathers — all before startled locals.

“My nephews and nieces were afraid,” Filipino tourist Tara Calcetas said. “It was scary because there were people swimming yesterday [at the beach] and the police were firing guns as if there was a criminal here.”

The government conceded yesterday there was no real threat, with interior ministry assistant secretary Epimaco Densing saying the security presence was “just part of preparing for the worst”.

President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the shutdown this month after calling the resort a “cesspool”, dirtied by tourism-related businesses flushing their raw sewage directly into the ocean.

During the closure, only residents with ID cards are allowed to board ferries to Boracay, which is home to around 40,000 people.

People on the “party island” held a final bash on the beachfront on the eve of the closure, cheering “Bye-bye Boracay”.