5 departments sharing task of saving Boracay

Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon Tulfo Teo. FACEBOOK SCREENGRAB

The government will launch a full-scale effort to restore and upgrade the maintenance of Boracay Island’s natural assets amid reports of seawater pollution, flooding, garbage disposal problems, encroachment and land-use violations, Tourism Secretary Wanda Tulfo-Teo said on Friday.

Teo said the Department of Tourism (DOT) and the public works, interior, environment and justice departments would be issuing a joint administrative order (JAO) to undertake the effort to save the island, world-famous for its powdery white sand and clear waters.

Teo, who heads the multiagency program called “Oplan Save Boracay,” said she met on Wednesday with acting Interior Secretary Eduardo Año

and Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu.

Tourism heritage law

“Boracay as it is now, remains among the world’s most beautiful islands as recognized by top international travel magazines, and that’s precisely why we are seriously concerned over these environmental threats that might affect its viability as an international tourist destination,” Teo said in a statement.

The DOT chief said she would also be pushing for a tourism heritage law that would ensure that stakeholders would take care of tourism destinations.

“If enacted and implemented, a tourism heritage law will be more effective in ensuring the preservation and protection not only of Boracay Island and its [waters] but all of the country’s natural tourist destinations,” she said.

Senate inquiry

Teo and other officials would be accompanying senators to Boracay next week in a Senate inquiry into the island’s problems.

President Duterte earlier warned that the government might close Boracay to tourism if the island’s sewage and garbage problems, as well as violations of environmental laws and regulations, were not resolved in six months.

An inspection led by the environment department showed over 60 establishments, including five-star resorts, have been dumping untreated sewage into the waters off barangays Balabag, Manoc-Manoc and Yapak that comprise Boracay Island, which is part of Aklan province’s Malay municipality.

Local government officials have received flak for the perennial problems of water pollution, lack of garbage disposal and violations in building regulations that prohibit construction within 30 meters from the shoreline.

Tourism Undersecretary for Public Affairs Katherine de Castro said a communications plan was being crafted to keep the world updated on the developments on the island.

“Certainly all is not lost for Boracay Island, and we owe our guests, who have set foot [on] its fine white-sand beaches and have come to love it and its people, to know that this government is taking measures to protect this paradise,” she said.