ILOILO CITY -- The Philippine National Police will bar the unauthorized carrying of guns on Boracay Island as part of measures to tighten security and stem violence in the country’s top tourist destination.

Chief Superintendent Isagani Cuevas, Western Visayas police director, said in a statement that his office was finalizing plans for the implementation of the ban on the 1,032-hectare island-resort.

He said the measure was included in a comprehensive plan to improve peace and order and to avert terrorist attacks on tourist destinations.

Similar steps will be undertaken on Guimaras Island, another tourist destination in the Visayas.

The ban will cover all persons entering the island and off-duty security guards and law enforcers.

Off-duty security guards, especially those outside the areas of their assignment, will be prohibited from carrying firearms.

The ban will also cover policemen and members of the Armed Forces who are not in uniform, as well as the security aides of politicians and officials.

Law enforcers will not be allowed to carry firearms on the island unless they are authorized by mission orders.

“We want to be strict on this plan because Boracay Island is a treasure that we have to protect,” Cuevas said.

Policemen will be detailed at seaports, especially at the Caticlan port, the jump-off point to the island, to check all persons going to Boracay.

Violent clashes over land disputes in Boracay have been on the rise in recent years, mostly involving security guards of land claimants and property owners. Nestor P. Burgos Jr., Inquirer Visayas