On Tuesday, the Department of Tourism (DOT) announced that the Malay town government in Aklan would be issued a warning after Boracay Island’s carrying capacity was exceeded during Holy Week.
DOT Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat told GMA News’ Unang Balita that the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Ao will issue the warning.
“Nakausap ko na si Secretary Año at mag-i-issue na siya ng warning (I have talked with Secretary Año and he will issue a warning),” she said.
“Bago nu’ng pandemya, nagbigay na kami ng carrying capacity ‘yung Boracay Inter-Agency Task Force. Ang carrying capacity ay 19,000. Pero noong Holy Week, noong isang araw nasa 21,000 at 22,000, way beyond the carrying capcity,” Puyat said.
(Before the pandemic, the Boracay Inter-Agency Task Force had already issued the carrying capacity [of the island]. The carrying capacity is 19,000. But during Holy Week, it was 21,000 one day and 22,000 on another day, way beyond the carrying capacity.)
“Even pre-pandemic, mino-monitor. Noong pre-pandemic, it never exceeded the carrying capacity kasi lahat ng pumapasok nila-log ‘yan,” she added.
(Even before the pandemic, we monitored [the number of tourists going there]. Before the pandemic, the number of tourist arrivals never exceeded the carrying capacity because those entering the island were logged [into the database].)
Boracay exceeds capacity limit during Holy Week – DOT
The Department of Transportation (DOT) issued a statement on Monday urging authorities to resolve the breach.
According to a report to the DOT from the Malay Tourism Office, the number of tourists on the island reached 21,252 on Holy Thursday and 22,519 on Good Friday, significantly exceeding the approved daily level of roughly 19,000 people.
The DOT said it had alerted the DILG and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) about the problem and encouraged them to take proper precautions to avoid future accidents.
“We continue our coordination with them, especially the DILG, which has jurisdiction over the LGU (local government unit), to address this concern and prevent similar incidents from happening in the future,” it said.
Fully vaccinated passengers no longer need to produce a negative RT-PCR test to visit major tourist spots Boracay and Puerto Galera as of February 2 this year.
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