EDITORIAL - Overcapacity

Since Boracay was reopened to tourism in October 2018 following a six-month shutdown for rehabilitation, a carrying capacity has been imposed on the world-famous resort island.

President Duterte had ordered the shutdown at the peak of the travel season in the summer of 2018 after finding out that the island’s sewage was being spewed into Boracay’s waters and overbuilding was destroying the top tourist destination.

The carrying capacity has not been lifted, and was in fact further reduced in the past two years in line with COVID health safety protocols. So health officials were disheartened to see the capacity limit breached during the Holy Week.

Pre-pandemic, the daily carrying capacity was set at 19,000. The Malay Tourism Office, however, reported to the Department of Tourism that Boracay visitors hit 21,252 on April 14, Maundy Thursday, and 22,519 on Good Friday. The DOT said the government of Malay town in Aklan would receive a warning from the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

The Malay government had previously drawn flak for the proliferation of fake COVID reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction swab test results used by visitors to enter Boracay during the pandemic lockdowns. As the Omicron-driven surge last January eased, however, the government lifted effective Feb. 2 the requirement for a negative RT-PCR test result for entering Boracay and another popular travel destination, Puerto Galera in Oriental Mindoro, as long as the tourist is fully vaccinated.

But the pre-pandemic carrying capacity for Boracay, meant to protect the island’s environment, has not been changed. The local government is supposed to enforce the capacity limit, which should not be a daunting task since visitors enter Boracay by boat and must be registered.

If not curbed quickly, the capacity breach may become the norm, and Boracay may soon return to what it was before its rehabilitation, as described by the President: a cesspool.