The closure of the resort island of Boracay, one of the nation’s major tourist destinations, started on April 26, 2018 as part of the government’s efforts at the island’s environmental rehabilitation.
Six months after it was shut down, the resort island reopened for a dry run. The first day of the 10-day dry run started on Monday with only 28 tourists. On the second day, only 19 tourists entered Boracay according to Niven Maquirang, port manager of the Caticlan-Cagbang Jetty. While there was an insignificant number of tourist arrivals, port management recorded 1,319 and 323 individuals entering the island for various reasons on the first and second day, respectively.
Workers who were called back in preparation for the Boracay reopening on Oct. 26 also came in multitudes numbering 4,408 on Oct. 15 and 1,652 the following day. Boracay residents who entered the island on Oct. 15 numbered 1,537 and 1,652 the next day. Meanwhile, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat urged tourists to dispose of their trash properly. Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu who also heads the Boracay Interagency Task Force (BIATF) said policies and interventions intended to protect Boracay from unsustainable tourism activities would be put to test from Oct. 15 to 25
