After Boracay, agencies plan rehabilitation of El Nido, Palawan

MANILA, Philippines (Updated 4:05 p.m.) — El Nido in Palawan is the next tourist destination that will go through rehabilitation.

According to a report by radio news station DZBB on Wednesday afternoon, the resort town known for its white sand beaches, will follow in Boracay's footsteps. Although there will be no blanket closure, 22 establishments there have already been temporarily closed.

The Palawan Inter-Agency Task Force met to discuss the details of the rehab Wednesday afternoon. 

Attending the meeting were Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat and Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu. The two departments, as well as the Department of the Interior and Local Government, were involved in the closure of Boracay island in April and its continuing rehabilitation.

The announcement follows the re-opening of Boracay island in October, which had been shut down to address problems with its waste management systems. 

Growing popularity brings problems

While not known for parties like Boracay is, Palawan has also been grappling with environmental issues as the island's popularity has grown over the past several years.

"There's no need to close down it (El Nido) down. We just have to close establishments who don't comply with regulations," Department of Environment and Natural Resources Undersecretary Benny Antiporda told DZMM in an interview Wednesday. 

He said the task force will monitor 50 other establishments in El Nido.

The DENR in February said they would limit guests to the Big Lagoon to 60 guests at any one time, or a maximum of 720 guests a day. The Small Lagoon was limited to 30 guests at any one time, or 360 persons per day. Admission to Secret Beach would be limited visitors to 12 at one time, or 144 a day.

Despite the regulation, in August, a tourist's photo of heaps of trash washing up in a famous lagoon on the island went viral, bringing attention to the island's waste problems again. 

Puyat also said last month that there’s "so much trash because the local government… they should enforce that already – limit the number of boats." 

READ: DOT to El Nido: Enforce sustainable tourism

She named El Nido as one of six tourist destinations being eyed for rehabilation. The others are La Union, Coron in Palawan, Panglao in Bohol, and Mactan in Cebu. 

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