Boracay workers appeal for gov’t help

PET-FRIENDLYTourists and their pets enjoy the waters and sights offered by Boracay as the resort island in Aklan province welcomes visitors after a six-month rehabilitation. —MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

ILOILO CITY—Six weeks after Boracay Island reopened in October to tourists, displaced residents and workers are still seeking assistance, especially those who lost their livelihood due to the closure and new policies imposed on the island.

The groups We Are Boracay, Rise Up Aklan and Friends of Boracay have asked Aklan Gov. Florencio Miraflores for help in addressing their concerns.

“Until now, the government has yet to release a comprehensive rehabilitation plan for Boracay and its inhabitants. Moreover, upon the re-opening of Boracay, no extensive public consultation was done and a slew of arbitrary rules were issued by the Boracay Inter-Agency Task Force (BIATF) that gravely affected us who reside on the island and who depend on its tourism,” the groups said in a letter to Miraflores.

Job losses

At least 30,000 workers of establishments and those employed in the informal sector have lost their livelihood and jobs due to the closure of the island from April 26 to Oct. 25.

President Duterte ordered the closure to rehabilitate the island amid continued environmental degradation.

Task force officials later admitted that the rehabilitation had not been completed and would continue until the end of next year at the earliest.

The Department of Tourism has accredited 268 establishments offering accommodations on the island as of Dec. 4. These account for a total 9,637 rooms.

REHAB ON GOING Environment and tourism officials say the full rehabilitation of Boracay Island will be finished by the end of 2019. —MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

‘Arbitrary rules’

Various government agencies have provided socioeconomic assistance to residents and workers affected by the closure. But residents said this was not enough and should be continued despite the reopening of the island.

“We were assured that things would be back to normal when Boracay reopened but this did not happen. Many of us were not able to return to our former means of livelihood due to the many arbitrary and capricious rules issued by the [BIATF],” the groups said.

The task force has banned vendors along the 4-kilometer front beach, the main attraction of the island. Massage services have also been prohibited along the beach.

Olive Abañera, We Are Boracay coordinator, said vendors were asking the government for an alternative site accessible to tourists where they could sell their wares.

Relocation site

“Many of our members are vendors, drivers, tour guides, ‘commissioners’ (those who earn commissions by recommending guests to hotels and resorts and water sport activities), massage therapists, sand castle artists and other workers who have been deprived of the opportunity to earn a living by those unfair rules.”

“Moreover, there are many of us who are workers in the formal sector who have not been able to go back to their old jobs until now. Each day that we cannot get back to work spells hardship for our families,” the groups said.

They said government agencies should also help workers return to their former jobs or seek new employment.

They called for “immediate and adequate aid” for all affected families as, they said, they continued to suffer from the impact of the closure.

They also called on national government agencies and the local government to provide a relocation site for those who would be removed from forest lands on the island.