They were so
may doubters, and all of them are now silent.
Prior to the
closing of the world-renowned Boracay island different sectors, opposition
politicians, and the tourism industry itself asked the government if the
decision to have the island rehabilitated for 6 months is the best option that
we have.
 |
| Newly re-opened Boracay island (photo credit to owner) |
So many
reasons have been hurled against president Rodrigo Roa Duterte, but yesterday’s
opening made local and foreigners alike excited to feel and experience the
newly rehabilatated beach front that looked like what the locals fell in love
with 30 or more years ago.
Department of the Interior and Local Government
(DILG), through DILG Officer-In-Charge Secretary Eduardo M. Año, said that it
wants to make the world known Boracay island resort to be the gold standard for
all resorts in the country.
October 26 was the re-opening, but the whole
rehabilitation of the whole island would take about two (2) years.
“There will be a lot of laws and ordinances to be
implemented in Boracay under our supervision to make sure that there will be no
repeat of what happened before,” Año said.
A Boracay
Inter-agency Task Force composed of the Department of the Interior and Local
Government (DILG), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and
the Department of Tourism (DOT) was created by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte to
carry out measures to save Boracay.
“Boracay is now very
fresh and very orderly but of course there are still a lot of things to be done
for the next two years,” he said.
The DILG has
already initiated the filing of administrative charges against 18 erring local
government officials for the mismanagement of the island.
17 of the 18 said officials were charged with
administrative cases on gross neglect of duty and conduct prejudicial to the
best interest of service, and one was charged with grave misconduct, gross
neglect of duty, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of service.
The DILG
secretary said only business establishments with proper functioning sewerage
treatment plants (STP’s) will be allowed to operate.
The Task force
has directed all residents and establishments to properly set up and use STPs
via clustering or separate treatment plants to keep white sand waters of the
island resort safe from wastewater.
Those
establishments that has been accredited by the DOT and cleared by the task
force as fully compliant with local and environment laws, such as the
Environmental Compliance Certificate or Certificate of Non-Coverage, are
allowed to re-open and do business.
The “no floating structure” ban within 3 kilometers on
the shoreline is would still be in full effect as part of the government’s
campaign to protect the beaches of Boracay.
“We will also conduct inspections in all other resorts
across the country to ensure that these tourist destinations also comply with
the existing environmental laws,” the DILG secretary said.
“Those that
will be found negligent and remiss on environmental compliance will not be
tolerated and will be made accountable just like what we did to Boracay,” he
added.
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