Boracay tourist arrivals to be regulated

MANILA, Philippines — The number of people, including tourists, to be allowed to stay in Boracay will be regulated under the guidelines adopted by the Boracay Interagency Task Force (BIATF).

Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu, who chairs the task force, said the guidelines would ensure that rehabilitation efforts in the past six months would not be wasted when the island is reopened to tourists on Oct. 26.

“We cannot and will not let the influx of people destroy Boracay again or undo all the improvements and innovations that we have introduced and will be introducing,” Cimatu said.

He said concerned government agencies and local governments would come up with resolutions and ordinances, respectively, to adopt the guidelines.               

According to a study conducted by the Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the University of the Philippines-Los Baños, Boracay’s daily carrying capacity is only 54,945, broken down into 19,215 tourists and 35,730 residents, migrants and stay-in workers.

Boracay’s current population exceeded its carrying capacity by almost 30 percent, the study also showed.

The task force is evaluating a proposed relocation site for workers, noting that non-tourists comprise the bulk of the population in Boracay.

The BIATF agreed with the DENR’s requirement for establishments with 40 rooms and above and lodging inns in other areas with 50 rooms or more to put up their own sewage treatment plants.

It also declared a zero-waste policy in Boracay wherein waste on the island will be collected daily for disposal at a facility in mainland Aklan.