Boracay hotel closed amid environment crackdown

WATER PLAY A drainage for rainwater leads to the sea on Boracay Island’s Balabag village, an area popular for water sports. The island in Malay, Aklan, is confronting problems of pollution and overdevelopment, forcing the government to crack the whip on environmental violators. —LYN RILLON

ILOILO CITY — A 36-room hotel on Boracay Island was shut down by the local government of Malay in Aklan province after its management failed to address several violations, among these the improper discharge of wastewater, despite several notices.

Malay Mayor Ciceron Cawaling on Monday issued the closure order against Crown Regency Prince Hotel, located along the island’s main road in Barangay Balabag.

Rowen Aguirre, municipal executive assistant for Boracay affairs, said the hotel had no sanitary permits since 2016 and was found to be illegally discharging wastewater into the drainage system that was intended only for surface water. The hotel’s sewage treatment plant was also nonfunctional, he said.

“The hotel will remain closed until [its management has] corrected the violations and after [it is] inspected again,” Aguirre told the Inquirer.

Environmental violators

The establishment is one of four hotels operated on the island by Crown Regency Hotels and Resorts.

The Inquirer on Tuesday sought the hotel management for a statement but it did not issue any as of 4:30 p.m.

The local government has been cracking down on violators of environmental laws and regulations in Boracay amid the looming temporary closure of the island.

An interagency task force has recommended to President Rodrigo Duterte the closure of Boracay for six months starting April 26.

Environment Undersecretary Jonas Leones, spokesperson for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), said the agency had validated the list of 195 establishments that were found to be not connected to the island’s sewerage system.

The illegal discharge of wastewater is considered among the main causes of overflowing of the system and the contamination of water in some areas on the island.

DENR personnel have also been mapping areas along Boracay’s main roads that will be affected by a road-widening project.

Boracay council

Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu met with local officials and resort owners on Monday to discuss an action plan in the event that the President orders a shutdown, affecting tourism activities on the island.

Last week, Sen. Franklin Drilon filed Senate Bill No. 1765 to create a council that will take over the management and protection of Boracay.

The measure forming the Boracay Island Council (BIC) is pending in the Senate committees on environment and natural resources and on local government.

BIC, composed of representatives of government agencies, local governments and the private sector, will “take over the management, development, regulation, protection and maintenance of the island, including its coastal resources and marine biodiversity.

Drilon, in the bill’s introduction, cited the situation of Boracay Island, the country’s leading tourist destination, which he said was in a “state of disrepair.” He cited problems on wastewater discharge, flooding, algal bloom, water contamination and deterioration of coral reefs.

Urgent measures

“The situation calls for urgent and extreme measures to address the crisis,” Drilon said. “It is apparent that Boracay has suffered from the governmental system currently in place. It has failed to provide the island with protection and preservation that it needs.”

The council will be created under the Office of the President and composed of the
secretaries of the DENR, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Tourism, and Department of Justice.

Representatives from local governments will come from the Aklan provincial government, Malay town government and the three villages on the island.

The other members will include the administrator of the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority, director of the Land Management Bureau, administrator of the Land Registration Authority and the chair of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples.