DOT: Decision to reopen Boracay up to DENR

MANILA, Philippines — Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said she is leaving the decision to reopen Boracay to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the lead agency in the inter-agency task force for the rehabilitation of the island.

“Of course, Secretary (Roy) Cimatu will be the best person to say environmental laws are complied and Boracay will open,” Puyat told reporters at the sidelines of Makati Business Club annual meeting on Tuesday.

Puyat said that during the recent Cabinet meeting, Cimatu told them that environmental woes on the island are being addressed. She said the DENR discovered illegal pipes from business establishments and that those pipes are being removed.

The Department of Public Works and Highways has meanwhile been working on the easements of the roads and other construction work.

“The infrastructure is there,” Puyat said.

The DOT chief said she is hopeful the island will be reopened to tourists in October,  provided all environmental laws are complied with.

At the Senate hearing into the Boracay rehabilitation on Wednesday, Department of Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Epimaco Densing said the the soft opening of Boracay is scheduled for the first week of September.

In a radio interview with DWIZ on Thursday, DENR Undersecretary Jonas Leones said the soft opening of the island is just a possibility but not decision has been made.

“We are thinking that if wastewater pollution in Boracay is addressed and the quality of water is good, soft opening will be possible,” Leones said in Filipino in the radio interview.

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said the target soft opening is just a month before of the supposed end of the Boracay closure. He said he is looking forward to the soft opening of the island and is hopeful the displaced workers will regain back their work.

“I assume they can do it and we will monitor their compliance with this commitment. It is their own deadline,” Drilon said in an interview on Wednesday.

“We are looking forward to the first week of September that Boracay can reopen. The reforms that are being instituted, certainly, will not be finished by that time but at least, the minimum requirements that meet environmental standards will be in place,” he added.

The senator said he is proposing a single authority to manage Boracay and all the hotels there.