Taking precautions to maximize safety
The Covid-19 pandemic is arguably the worst disaster that ever happened to the global tourism industry. As the pandemic keeps billions of people at home, the $8.8 trillion industry that created 319 million jobs around the world grounded to a halt. The shadow of the global pandemic made all hopes of a sustained growth for the Philippine tourism sector evaporate. even before the imposition of the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-puyat said the country stands to lose at least P43 billion in tourism revenues because of Covid-19.
When Malacañang announced on June 1 that all residents living in areas under modified general community quarantine will be allowed to leave their homes as long as they observe minimum health standards, tourism destinations under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) rejoiced.
Acting on a resolution of the Aklan provincial government headed by Gov. Florencio Miraflores, the Boracay Inter-agency Task Force declared on June 11, 2020: “Boracay is now open for business.” BIATF Chair and Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu said Boracay will be open to tourists from Western Visayas, under phase one of its gradual reopening, starting on June 16. The local tourists allowed include visitors from Aklan, Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, and the cities of Iloilo and Bacolod.
Cimatu, however, clarified that only tourists from the ages of 21 to 59 are allowed to enter the island, which is still under the MGCQ status. “The tourists will be accommodated in hotels accredited by the Department of Tourism,” he added. According to BIATF Co-chairman Tourism Secretary Romulo-puyat, there are 390 Dot-accredited hotels and resorts in Boracay, and all of them are required to secure a certificate to operate based on the guidelines set out by the Inter-agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases for accommodation establishments returning to business.
It was not the big reopening that was expected, but tourism establishments in the island were happy to note that they can at least start serving local tourists once more. Then the bad news came: Authorities found out that a Boracay hotel hosted a group of travelers to Boracay on June 12 that stayed up to June 14, when the island was not yet officially open for tourism. (See, “Boracay hotel under fire from DOT, LGU” in the Businessmirror, June 18, 2020).
Businessmirror’s Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo reported that the Department of Tourism moved to revoke the accreditation of the hotel that accommodated 24 outsiders, one of whom tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The Boracay Inter-agency Task Force decried the entry of the group of travelers to Boracay when the island was not yet officially open for tourism.
Arnaldo’s report: “The revocation stemmed from a widely reported incident wherein 28 employees of the Bureau of Fire Protection in Iloilo traveled to Boracay on June 11 and June 12, supposedly for the visit of BIATF officials led by Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu, Interior Secretary Eduardo M. Año, and DOT’S Bernadette Romulo-puyat. It was later found that the group actually held a birthday party. One of the BFP employees who joined the group on June 12, according to Iloilo news reports, was supposed to have been on home quarantine for 14 days, while waiting for her Covid-19 test results. On June 13, said employee was found positive with the dreaded virus. According to the DOT, provincial and local government officials have already been able to trace all the contacts of the 28 personnel and have advised them to undertake necessary health and safety measures.”
Given their huge losses, tourism establishments understandably need to reopen. But the Covid-19 pandemic is still with us, and, sadly careless—nay, criminaly reckless—individuals as well. Timely moves by the Malay town LGU and the DOT are laudable, but authorities must throw the book at all those who sabotaged Boracay’s soft reopening.