DILG: All systems go for Boracay reopening

A week before Boracay’s “soft reopening” to tourists, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said everything was in order for the big day.

The big difference this time?

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

Sewerage treatment

For instance, he said, only business establishments accredited by the interagency task force that have sewerage treatment plants and secured environmental compliance certificates would be allowed to operate by the Oct. 26 reopening.

The “no floating structure” ban within 3 kilometers of the shoreline will also be in effect.

Earlier, administrative cases were filed against 18 erring local government officials for alleged negligence and mismanagement of the island.

Año said the six-month closure of the island allowed the authorities to fix Boracay’s “immediate” environmental problems. Still, he said, it would take two years for the island to be completely rehabilitated. —JAYMEE T. GAMIL