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On April 26, 2018, the Philippine resort island of
Boracay Boracay (; sometimes shortened by non-natives as Bora) is a resort island in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines, located off the northwest coast of Panay, Panay Island. It has a total land area of , under the jurisdiction of thre ...
, one of the country's major tourist destinations, was temporarily closed to the general public as part of the Philippine government's efforts to rehabilitate and redevelop the island. As part of the closure, Boracay was closed for six months except to its registered residents and employees. The closure had a significant effect on the livelihood of local people. In 2022, the Philippine government declared that the closure was successful in rehabilitating the island's environment.


Background

Boracay is a popular tourist island and the infrastructure needed to accommodate tourism was put in place at a fast pace. This caused environmental problems. ''
Condé Nast Traveler ''Condé Nast Traveler'' is a luxury and lifestyle travel magazine published by Condé Nast. The magazine has won 25 National Magazine Awards. The Condé Nast unit of Advance Publications purchased ''Signature'', a magazine for Diners Club me ...
'' magazine called Boracay "the poster child for
overtourism Overtourism is congestion or overcrowding from an excess of tourists, resulting in conflicts with locals. The World Tourism Organization defines overtourism as "the impact of tourism on a destination, or parts thereof, that excessively influ ...
". In particular, many businesses were discharging untreated sewer waste into the sea. The magazine quoted a tour operator who said the environmental problems on the island are '"the worst example of how to destroy a beautiful island"'. The amount of rubbish generated per person was said to be more than three times that in
Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...
. In a business forum held on February 9, 2018, President
Rodrigo Duterte Rodrigo Roa Duterte (, ; born March 28, 1945) is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 16th president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He is the first Philippine president from Mindanao, and is the oldest person to assum ...
called the island of
Boracay Boracay (; sometimes shortened by non-natives as Bora) is a resort island in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines, located off the northwest coast of Panay, Panay Island. It has a total land area of , under the jurisdiction of thre ...
a "
cesspool Cesspit, cesspool and soak pit in some contexts are terms with various meanings: they are used to describe either an underground holding tank (sealed at the bottom) or a soak pit (not sealed at the bottom). A cesspit can be used for the tempo ...
" and announced plans to close the island to tourists and conduct a rehabilitation on the island in June 2018 to resolve the worsening sewage conditions there. Duterte directed Environment secretary Roy Cimatu to resolve the environmental issues in the island. Boracay is part of the jurisdiction of the town of Malay of
Aklan Aklan, officially the Province of Aklan, is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines. Its capital and largest town is Kalibo. The province is situated in the northwest portion of Panay, Panay Islan ...
province. Three of Malay's
barangay The barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as ''barrio'', is the smallest Administrative divisions of the Philippines, administrative division in the Philippines. Named after the Precolonial barangay, precolonial po ...
s are in Boracay. According to the
Western Visayas Western Visayas (; ; ) is an Regions of the Philippines, administrative region in the Philippines, numerically designated as Region VI. The region comprises the islands of Panay and Guimaras Island, Guimaras. It consists of five Provinces of the ...
regional office of the Department of Tourism, Boracay had two million tourists in 2017 which accounts for 34 percent of Western Visayas' 5.8 million tourist arrivals. At least 19,031 are employed to work on the island. The
Department of Environment and Natural Resources The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR; ) is the Executive Departments of the Philippines, executive department of the Philippine government responsible for the conservation, management, development, and proper use of the cou ...
(DENR) Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau, together with the
University of the Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; ) is a Higher education in the Philippines#State universities and colleges, state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by List of Philippine laws, Re ...
at Los Baños, Laguna, had earlier commissioned a study to compute Boracay's "real carrying capacity". The study took into account Boracay land area, hours spent on activities on the island and other environmental factors. According to the study, Boracay can accommodate a total of 54,945 people at a time, broken down into 19,215 tourists and 35,730 residents, which includes 22,395 stay-in workers. However, Boracay's existing population of more than 70,700 had already exceeded the carrying capacity by almost 30%. Given the excess one-third capacity, the DENR is looking to relocate some 6,000 workers to the mainland Malay town in
Aklan Aklan, officially the Province of Aklan, is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines. Its capital and largest town is Kalibo. The province is situated in the northwest portion of Panay, Panay Islan ...
. DENR is also exploring the option of having hotels and establishments subsidize the living and transport expenses or to house their own workers. Other alternatives includes the provision of a new port for workers and permanent residents to avoid congestion in the existing one, which will be ring-fenced for tourist use. Waters along the beaches of Boracay have experienced
algal bloom An algal bloom or algae bloom is a rapid increase or accumulation in the population of algae in fresh water or marine water systems. It is often recognized by the discoloration in the water from the algae's pigments. The term ''algae'' encompass ...
which environmentalists and some long-time residents claim to be an indicator of pollution and deteriorating water conditions. The Malay municipal government, some business operators, and some residents say that the algal bloom is a natural seasonal phenomenon that usually occurs annually in the
summer Summer or summertime is the hottest and brightest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, daylight hours are the longest and darkness hours are the shortest, with day ...
, and occurred on Boracay even before the island became developed. Boracay Island Water Co. operates the sewage network of Boracay which accommodates only 61 percent of the island. In 2018, 195 businesses, and almost four thousand households, were not connected to the sewers. The island has two central sewerage treatment plants with a total capacity of 11.5 million liters/day, one in Barangay Balabag and another in Barangay Manoc-Manoc, and plans the construction of a third plant in Barangay Yapak with a capacity of 5 million litres/day. The company has also carried out some work to ensure the facilities can be used fully; before this, only 58% of capacity was used.


Events leading to the closure

Following Rodrigo Duterte's comment on the situation in Boracay, the local government of Malay issued a statement on February 19, 2018, accepting the remarks by the president as "constructive criticism" and acknowledged the environmental issues affecting the island. It pointed out that the municipal government had entered into a partnership with an architectural firm, Palafox Associates, to formulate a tourism municipal master plan which involved decongesting Boracay and implementing building regulations in the island. In addition it criticized ABS-CBN and GMA Network for using photos of algal bloom in the island to "sensationalize" the algal phenomenon in the island which it says is natural and only occurs in the summer. There were repeat calls for a partial closure of Boracay instead of a total closure. 1-Pacman partylist has proposed the closure of areas identified as medium to high risk based primarily on environmental and sanitary standards while low risk areas continue to operate while the rest of the island is rehabilitated. The
Philippine Army The Philippine Army (PA) () is the main, oldest and largest branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), responsible for ground warfare. , it had an estimated strength of 143,100 soldiers The service branch was established on December ...
was deployed to secure Boracay during its closure as support to the local police. Protest actions were the "foremost threat" the security forces were stated to be anticipating. There was some criticism of the planned closure, with some people thinking that the government was taking action not for environmental reasons but to destroy smaller businesses. There was also criticism of the lack of notice and the limited aid package.


Planned media coverage restriction

The
Department of the Interior and Local Government The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG; ) is the executive department of the Philippine government responsible for promoting peace and order, ensuring public safety and strengthening local government capability aimed towards ...
(DILG) announced that journalists would need permission to cover the shutdown of Boracay. On April 14, 2018, the Department of Tourism of the Philippines issued guidelines that sought to limit media coverage of the Boracay shutdown. According to the media accreditation guidelines, television networks would be limited to 12 persons, while radio, print, and online organizations and wire services would be limited to five persons. Accredited organizations would be allowed on the island from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., restricted to designated areas, and would have to be escorted. "Vetting and processing" of applications for accreditation would take three to five working days. The
Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) is a private, non-stock, non-profit foundation in the Philippines that has focused its endeavor on press freedom protection along with the establishment of a framework of responsibility fo ...
(CMFR) noted criticisms that saw the guidelines "as government’s way to prevent access to critical media, selectively favoring the media practitioners who are friendly to government." The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines called the restrictions unconstitutional. The CMFR said the accreditation system was a form of prior restraint, and noted a wider pattern of restrictions that sought to limit press freedom in the Philippines. On April 25, 2018, the Department of Tourism announced that it was dropping the requirement for accreditation for media coverage.


Closure and rehabilitation

On April 4, 2018, the Philippine government announced that Boracay would be closed for up to six months starting on April 26. Checkpoints staffed by police officers and soldiers would be set up at piers in Boracay to turn away visitors from the island. Passes would be given to local residents. On the day of the closure, President Rodrigo Duterte declared a state of calamity over the three barangays of Boracay. The
Department of Social Welfare and Development The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD; ) is the executive department of the Philippine government responsible for the protection of the social welfare of rights of Filipinos and to promote social development. History In 1915, ...
(DSWD) distributed relief goods to residents of Boracay while the island is closed to tourists. In June 2018, there were reports of residents receiving spoiled canned goods. The DSWD has admitted mishandling the relief efforts, apologized, and said they would investigate the matter. Within the same month, a
whale shark The whale shark (''Rhincodon typus'') is a slow-moving, filter feeder, filter-feeding carpet shark and the largest known Extant taxon, extant fish species. The largest confirmed individual had a length of . The whale shark holds many records for ...
sighting was reported in
Boracay Boracay (; sometimes shortened by non-natives as Bora) is a resort island in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines, located off the northwest coast of Panay, Panay Island. It has a total land area of , under the jurisdiction of thre ...
through social media. Social media users mostly from Aklan hailed the sightings as a good sign. The government's presidential spokesperson
Harry Roque Herminio Harry Lopez Roque Jr. (; born October 21, 1966) is a Filipino lawyer, politician, and former law professor. He served as the presidential spokesperson of President Rodrigo Duterte from 2017 to 2018 and from 2020 to 2021. He was the pa ...
said that the sighting is a proof that the rehabilitation is a success.
Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by a group of Environmental movement, environmental activists. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its biod ...
however responded that the whale shark sighting is not an indicator of success of the cleanup efforts, pointing out that whale sharks are migratory creatures and that sightings are a normal occurrence in Boracay. It criticized the government for using the sighting as a metric for the rehabilitation. The government in June 2018 announced that it is developing the
Ati people The Ati are a Negrito ethnic group and indigenous peoples in the Visayan Islands of the Philippines. Their small numbers are principally concentrated on the islands of Boracay, Panay and Negros. They are genetically related to other Negrito eth ...
's
ancestral land Ancestral domain or ancestral lands are the lands, territories and resources of indigenous peoples, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. The term differs from indigenous land rights, Aboriginal title or Native Title by directly indicating r ...
in
Boracay Boracay (; sometimes shortened by non-natives as Bora) is a resort island in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines, located off the northwest coast of Panay, Panay Island. It has a total land area of , under the jurisdiction of thre ...
into an agro-tourism area in an effort to integrate the Ati into the island's tourism industry. The development is part of the
Department of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...
's ''Kabuhayan at Kaunlaran ng Kababayang Katutubo'' (; 4Ks) program which was originated by the department's secretary Emmanuel Piñol. A
greenhouse A greenhouse is a structure that is designed to regulate the temperature and humidity of the environment inside. There are different types of greenhouses, but they all have large areas covered with transparent materials that let sunlight pass an ...
will be set up for vegetable cultivation and a goat farm for the production of milk. An organic restaurant serving Ati cuisine and a hostel will also be set up along the beach area to be run by members of the Ati people. The last batch of livelihood aid from the DSWD was distributed to Boracay residents on September 21. A total of worth of aid was given to residents affected by the closure. From October 16 to 25, 2018, Boracay was partially opened as a dry run of its return to tourism operations. Filipino citizens were only allowed to visit the island as tourists with locals given priority. Assessment was made before Boracay was fully reopened on its soft opening on October 26.


Impact

About 400 hotels and restaurants were ordered to close for violating local environmental laws, while three casinos have been permanently shut down. Establishments built within the 30-meter shoreline easement were also demolished. The government projected about loss of potential gross receipts as a result of the six months closure of Boracay. Tourist stakeholders in the island project a loss of as they estimate that 700,000 bookings by foreign tourists were cancelled in anticipation of the closure.
Philippine Airlines Philippine Airlines (PAL) is the flag carrier of the Philippines. Headquartered at the Philippine National Bank, PNB Financial Center in Pasay, the airline was founded in 1941 and is the oldest operating commercial airline in Asia. Philippine ...
,
Cebu Pacific Cebu Air, Inc. (), operating as Cebu Pacific (stylized in lowercase), is a Philippine low-cost airline based in Pasay, Metro Manila. Founded in 1988, the airline was the first low-cost carrier in Asia and is also the largest airline in the Phi ...
and
AirAsia Philippines Philippines AirAsia, Inc. is a Philippine low-cost airline based at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay, Metro Manila. The airline is the Philippine affiliate of the Malaysian AirAsia. The airline started as a joint venture among three ...
announced that they would reduce flights to and from Kalibo International Airport in
Kalibo Kalibo, officially the Municipality of Kalibo (Aklanon language, Aklanon: ''Banwa it Kalibo''; Hiligaynon language, Hiligaynon: ''Banwa sang Kalibo''; ), is a municipality of the Philippines, municipality and capital of the Philippine Province, ...
and Godofredo P. Ramos Airport in
Caticlan Malay , officially the Municipality of Malay ( Aklanon: ''Banwa it Malay''; Hiligaynon: ''Banwa sang Malay''; ), is a municipality in the province of Aklan, Philippines. It is the richest municipality in the province in terms of revenue. Accordi ...
during the closure. One estimate placed the number of jobs lost from the shutdown at 36,000, with lost revenues at ₱56 billion. As a result of the closure, the Boracay police recorded only 14 index crimes from April 26 to June 22, 2018, as opposed to 176 cases during the same period the previous year. An article in ''
The Philippine Star ''The Philippine Star'' (self-styled ''The Philippine STAR'') is an English-language newspaper in the Philippines and the flagship brand of the Philstar Media Group. First published on July 28, 1986, by veteran journalists Betty Go-Belmonte, ...
'' following the re-opening said that local people and business owners had found the shutdown hard, but thought that it had been valuable. Following Boracay's closure, the Department of Tourism issued a warning on October 19 to local government units based in five major tourist destinations to follow environmental laws, namely El Nido in Palawan, Panglao in Bohol, Oslob in Cebu,
La Union La Union (), officially the Province of La Union (; ; ; ; ; ), is a coastal province in the Philippines situated in the Ilocos Region on the island of Luzon. The province's capital, the San Fernando, La Union, City of San Fernando, is the most ...
, and
Baguio Baguio ( , , ), officially the City of Baguio (; ; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines. It is known as the "Summer Capital of the Philippines", ...
. In 2020 a resort owner was arrested for environmental violations, and the government said that another 21 prosecutions were pending. In 2021, the government task force working on the island's rehabilitation said that the work was "restoring ecological integrity". 81% of buildings in the beach easement zone had been demolished. Two of the total nine
wetlands A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...
illegally occupied had been cleared. Water quality had improved and flooding was being addressed. In 2022, the government issued a statement to say that rehabilitation had been successful. It said that fecal coliform levels are now within acceptable limits.


Post-closure rehabilitation

Despite Boracay's soft opening to tourism on 26 October 2018, rehabilitation works were scheduled to continue on the island. At that point, only 70 of around six hundred businesses had been able to reach environmental standards and re-open. The second phase of rehabilitation was projected to last until mid-2019 and the third phase until the end of 2019. Visitor numbers were restricted and many new regulations instituted.


Legal case

On June 27, 2018, the Department of the Interior and Local Government filed a complaint against 17 executive officials including Aklan Governor Florencio Miraflores and Malay Municipal Mayor Ciceron Cawaling over neglect over Boracay. The officials were alleged to have been lax in issuing building permits and to have failed to tackle illegal development activities on the island.


Reform


Land use

On May 30, 2018, President Duterte declared that he planned to make the entire Island of Boracay a land reform area and wanted to prioritize Boracay's first inhabitants.


Tourism regulations

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources is working with the local government of Malay and other stakeholders to come up with new regulations once Boracay is opened to tourists. The DENR said that they will only allow 19,000 tourists to visit the island daily. If the limit is exceeded, only tourists with hotel reservations would be allowed but their respective hotels would be alerted by the agency that the daily limit of tourists in the island had already been reached. However it was later clarified that the government has yet to finalize the daily tourist limit to be imposed on Boracay. The Department of Tourism would also prohibit smoking and drinking of alcohol in public places and the beaches of Boracay, though these activities would be allowed in designated areas. This is to reduce cigarette butts and shards from broken bottles in beaches. Large scale parties such as the "Laboracay", which draws in 60,000 to 70,000 tourists in three days, would no longer be allowed in the island. In 2024, however, the municipal government of Malay allowed beach parties to be held in the island again as part of efforts to attract younger tourists. Under the new rules, 19,200 tourists per day will be allowed on the island. Moreover, fire eaters, masseuses, vendors, stray dogs, bonfires and builders of photo-op sandcastles have been banned from the beachfront. All water sports, aside for swimming, are also forbidden for the time being.


Sustainable tourism development through green transportation

The
Department of Energy A ministry of energy or department of energy is a government department in some countries that typically oversees the production of fuel and electricity; in the United States, however, it manages nuclear weapons development and conducts energy-rela ...
(DOE) donated 200 electric tricycles to the Malay local government in Aklan to improve the public transport system, embarking on "more
sustainable tourism Sustainable tourism is a concept that covers the complete tourism experience, including concern for Impacts of tourism, economic, social, and environmental issues as well as attention to improving tourists' experiences and addressing the needs o ...
development for the island". These e-trikes are planned to replace the gasoline-powered tricycles on the island for "greener public transportation", and are also seen as the way forward to reduce the vulnerability of the country on the volatility of international oil price movements and other economic impacts. One of the major beneficiaries of the e-trike project would be the Boracay Ati Tribal Organization (BATO) in coordination with the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples. A total of 10 e-trikes will be given to the BATO, which were intended for their livelihood.


References


Further reading


The Boracay Closure: Socioeconomic Consequences and Resilience Management
by Celia M. Reyes, Jose Ramon G. Albert, Francis Mark A. Quimba, Ma. Kristina P. Ortiz and Ronina D. Asis.
Philippine Institute for Development Studies The Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) is a government-owned and controlled corporation of the Philippines. It was established by Presidential Decree No. 1201 in September 1977 to conduct research to help government planners. I ...
, November 2018. *
Beyond the Beach: Balancing Environmental and Socio-cultural Sustainability in Boracay, the Philippines
', by Lei Tin Jackie Ong, Donovan Storey and John Minnery. ''Tourism Geographies'', Volume 13, 2011. {{Rodrigo Duterte closure, 2018 Boracay closure Boracay closure Presidency of Rodrigo Duterte Redevelopment projects in the Philippines