Duterte: Up to Congress to reclassify Boracay as commercial area

MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte on Thursday reiterated that he would not allow Boracay to be too commercialized, barely two months since he ordered the closure of the tourist island.

But Duterte said he would leave it to Congress to determine whether the island would be reclassified for commercial use.

“I want Congress to restore Boracay, as a jewel of a destination for tourism,” he said. “I would leave it to Congress to cut a strip there from where the low and high tide would reach. Then maybe they can measure a certain area in land, maybe half a kilometer or one kilometer before reaching the commercial area.” 

Speaking at the 29th national convention of the League of Vice Mayors of the Philippines in Bohol, the President said Boracay is “still forestal agricultural land.”

“Walang commercial diyan (No commercial land there). And we are surprised why there are houses there because neither is it a residential place,” he said.

Duterte vowed to pursue efforts to clean up the country’s top tourism destination and restore its original beauty.

As in his previous speeches, Duterte again said he would allow ancestral land occupants to benefit from the island. 

“Isauli ko sa mga tao na ‘yung may-ari talaga (I will return the land to its original owners). If they have the titles and they got the titles, by hook or by crook, I will give it to them. Let it go to owners first, para walang gulo (to avoid trouble),” he said.

“Then there is no commercial strip there which would allow you to set up a commercial establishment.”