Senator wants stricter tourist limit policy in Boracay

FILE: OVERTIME. Laborers work overtime to get the Boracay icon (upper left) finished before the island’s reopening at the Cagban Jetty Port on Thursday (Oct. 25, 2018). The world-famous Boracay island’s re-opening is slated Friday (Oct. 26) after a 6-month rehabilitation. Shown foreground are boats of Task Force Bantay Boracay, a multi-agency created by the Aklan provincial government tasked to help keep peace and order. (PNA photo by Gigie R. Arcilla-Agtay)

MANILA — Senator Nancy Binay on Sunday stressed the need to ensure a stricter implementation of the carrying capacity of Boracay amid the expected influx of tourists in the island in the coming months.

In a statement, Binay said the Boracay Inter-Agency Task Force (BIATF) should give an update on the status of the framework they have established in monitoring the number of tourists who visit Boracay, as well as their evaluation and recommendations regarding the daily limit on tourist arrivals especially during the peak season.

Binay noted that when Boracay was reopened October last year, the government imposed a limit of 6,405 tourist entries a day.

“Dapat po ay natuto na tayo sa naging mga pagkakamali — sa di pagpapatupad ng batas, sa pagbabalewala sa kalikasan, at sa unli-turista sa isla (We should learn from our past mistakes — the lack of implementation of the law, disregard for the environment, and the unlimited tourists in the island),” Binay said.

Binay stressed that only 19,000 tourists would be allowed in Boracay at any given day and workers in the island must not exceed 15,000 per day to be able to maintain the 55,000 carrying capacity of the island.

The senator also urged the inter-agency task force to ensure that establishments in the island comply with environmental laws.

“Sana ‘di ito ningas-cogon lamang dahil sayang lang ang ating magandang nasimulan para sa isla, at itaas po natin ang pamantayan na ating inilagay para mapangalagaan ang isla (I hope that they are not only enthusiastic at the beginning because our initiatives to rehabilitate the island would only go to waste, and we should even raise the standards in taking care of the island),” Binay added

One major component in the Boracay rehabilitation is the implementation of the “25+5-meter” easement along the beach. This means no structures are allowed to be put up within the 30-meter area along the beach.