Boracay hotel management hits closure order

The illegal dumping of wastewater in waters of Boracay Island has prompted the local government and the DENR to shutdown establishments on the resort paradise. INQUIRER FILE / LYN RILLON

ILOILO CITY — The management of a Cebu-based hotel chain denied that one of its hotels on Boracay Island temporarily shut down by the local government violated environmental laws and regulations.

The Crown Regency Hotels & Resorts said it was “taken aback” by the temporary closure of the Crown Regency Prince Resort near Boat Station 1 in Barangay Balabag.

“As a response to this temporary closure of Crown Regency Prince Resort, the management wishes to clarify that it has not been discharging hotel waste water into (the) drainage system,” the management said in a statement sent to the INQUIRER.

“The discharged water in reality emerges from underground natural spring water existing under the building structure that on numerous occasions overflows in the basement area of the convenient mart,” it said.

The hotel chain said it had put up pumps to dispose excess unused water to avoid the overflowing of water from its premises.

The management also denied that the hotel’s sewerage treatment plant (STP) is non-functional as alleged by the Malay municipal government.

It said it had contracted the Boracay Tubi System Inc., one of the two water service providers in Boracay, to maintain the STP and ensure that treated water is within the acceptable standard.

The hotel chain lamented that its hotel was closed down a few hours after the notice of closure was served “without any consideration (for us) to respond for clarification and provide updates from our end.”

“We are (a law-abiding and reputable) establishment that shall never deviate from what is needed to be done for healthy and safe environment to protect our island,” the management said.

Malay Mayor Ciceron Cawaling on March 26 ordered the temporary closure of the 36-room hotel for allegedly failing to correct violations despite the issuance of citation tickets.

The alleged violations included the lack of a sanitary permit, illegal discharge of wastewater to the drainage system which was intended only for surface water and a non-functional STP.

The hotel is one of the four hotels operated on the island by the Crown Regency Hotels & Resorts. /cbb