WATCH: Boracay residents agree with rehab, grapple with closure

AKLAN, Philippines — Two months into the world famous island’s closure to tourists, residents and workers of Boracay are already experiencing its  effects, both positive and negative.

The decision to close Boracay to tourists has earned mixed reactions from citizens and from public officials, but what do the residents and workers who are the most affected by the closure have to say?

Some said they disagree with the order to close down the island to tourism but have no choice but to comply with President Rodrigo Duterte's order.

“Hindi po sana, pero wala na kaming magagawa, gutom ‘yung pamilya namin, (Ideally, the island wouldn't have been closed, but we can’t do anything about it. Our families are going hungry,” fish vendors Janet Daguno and Elvira Cooper said when asked about the six-month closure.

Most residents and workers who agreed to be interviewed raised concerns about the livelihoods of people .

“Ang nakikita ko talagang worst na epekto ay yung mga taong nawalan ng trabaho (What I see as the worst effect of the closure is that people have lost their jobs),” Roni Balagot of the Malay Auxiliary Police told Philstar.com.

Italian chef Matteo d’Ursi, who was assigned to the island two months before the closure, said the government could have continued with rehabilitation without shutting down the island.

“I don't know, it's something strange for me— the business and the island with 70,000 employees... the effect of this closure just for some things like drainage system,” d’Ursi said.

He said he believes the environmental issues of the island have been a long-time problem and that there are alternatives to shutting down the operations of businesses there.

Residents and workers are for rehabilitation

Alongside the opposition, other residents and workers approve of the government’s decision.

“Kasi okay din samin ma-rehabilitate yung island (We agree that it's good to rehabilitate the island), why not?” musician Dean Santamaria said.

Tricycle driver John Michael Leaban said he also approves of the closure if it will leave the island better.

Canadian retiree Evelyn Anderson, who has been living on the island since 2009, on the other hand, said she approves of  rehabilitation.

Anderson said that before the Boracay was closed, there were many tourists and it was difficult to move around. She added that the infrastructure on the island was very limited.

“The residents on the island, I think, have been trying to make people aware there have been problems and the island needs help. I guess [that's] how it finally came,” Anderson said.

“Did this island have to close? I’m unsure. I think that, as they dive into some of the problems, maybe it did need to close but we're into rehabilitation absolutely,” she added.

Balagot, who helps manage traffic on the island, echoed Anderson’s comment, saying the closure is good since Boracay has become too crowded and polluted.

“Mas maganda ang ginawa ngayon para ibalik sa dati yung Boracay (This is better so we can restore Boracay),” he said.

Daguno said that they can already see improvements.

Indigenous Ati thank Duterte 

Boracay Ati Tribal Organization member Lourdes Tamboon, one of the indigenous people of the island, said she is thankful for the president’s decision.

“Talagang nagpapasalamat kami sa presidente na napansin yung mga hindi maganda dito sa Boracay para mabalik yung dating nature (We are really grateful to the president for paying attention to Boracay's problems to bring the island back to nature,” Tamboon said.

The president has said that the island will be turned into a land reform area for the benefit of the island's "natives", whom he referred to as Mangyans.

Former tour guide Raffy Sarabia said closing Boracay is good if only the government would hasten its construction work.

President Rodrigo Duterte placed the island under state of calamity and ordered its closure to tourists for six months to pave way for its rehabilitation. The order was implemented last April 26.

Anderson said she stayed on the island to see what would transpire over the coming months.