SWS: 64% Filipinos in favor of year-long Boracay closure

MANILA, Philippines — A majority, 64 percent, of Filipinos said they are in favor of the government’s recommendation to close the entire island of Boracay to tourists for a year for rehabilitation, according to a Social Weather Survey poll released Saturday.

Only 20 percent of the respondents of the survey are opposed to the closure while 17 percent were undecided on the matter.

READ: Boracay residents agree with rehab, grapple with closure

The poll was conducted from March 23 to 27, 2018, a month before the government implemented the island's closure for six months.

Respondents were also asked if they believe the island closure would help rehabilitate the island's environment,  64 percent agreed while 16 percent said the closure will not necessarily mean the island would return to its natural state.

Asked if the closure would help increase the number of tourists in the future, 61 percent of the respondents said it would. Only 16 percent disagreed while 23 percent were undecided.

“Perceived helpfulness of the Boracay closure in rehabilitating the nature in the island and increasing the number of tourists in the future is higher among those who support the government’s recommendation to close the island,” the survey results stated.

The poll also found that the proportion of those who said the closure of Boracay would help rehabilitate the nature in the island was highest in Metro Manila at 71 percent, followed by Balance Luzon and Mindanao, both at 64 percent, and the Visayas at 61 percent.

“Stronger support for the closure of Boracay among those with much trust in Duterte, and those satisfied with him as president and with his administration as a whole,” the survey results read.

Likewise, majority of the respondents who believed the benefits of the Boracay closure are higher are among those with much trust in President Rodrigo Duterte and those satisfied with him and his administration.

The survey which used face-to-face interviews had 1,200 respondents and a sampling error margin of +/- three percent for national percentages and ± six percent each for Metro Manila, Balance of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

Last May, Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu, who leads the inter-agency task force for Boracay rehabilitation, said closure may go beyond the six months initially planned. — Rosette Adel

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