MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte has postponed his scheduled visit to Boracay island today.
“In light of the recent developments and after careful review of the situation concerning the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the country, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte will not proceed to Boracay island (today), as earlier scheduled,” presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said last night.
“The visit of the President is moved to a later date,” Panelo added.
Duterte was earlier scheduled to meeting with the Boracay Interagency Task Force (BIATF) to tackle programs to further protect the world-class resort island and spur tourism.
Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat yesterday confirmed the President’s meeting in Boracay amid COVID-19 fears among travelers.
Duterte was expected to discuss with the BIATF, led by the Departments of Tourism (DOT), Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Interior and Local Government (DILG), the rehabilitation and upkeep of Boracay.
Duterte’s visit would have been the first since the island reopened in October 2018, after a six-month shutdown to fix its infrastructure and facilities, demolish illegal structures that ruin the environment and undergo a cleanup and rehabilitation.
So far, 394 lodging establishments in Boracay have reopened, offering over 14,000 rooms, according to DOT data released last Feb. 28.
Puyat said the President was also scheduled to talk to tourism stakeholders representing airlines, hotels, resorts and tour operators and persuade them to offer marked-down rates to attract more domestic tourists.
It is his way of supporting the DOT’s effort to entice Filipinos to visit the country’s tourist spots amid the growing fear of traveling because of the COVID-19 scare, according to the tourism chief.
He was also scheduled to visit other famous tourist spots like Bohol and Cebu “to show that it’s safe (to travel),” Puyat said.
The DOT has been encouraging local travel by crowdsourcing and posting of videos made by netizens using social media application TikTok on its Facebook page to mitigate the effects of the threat of COVID-19 on the tourism industry.
Since the outbreak, there has been a plunge in tourist arrivals, particularly from China, Hong Kong and Macau, which is expected to result in billions of pesos in losses in tourism revenue.
Last week, Puyat announced it would allot P6 billion “to spur domestic tourism” amid the threat of the virus.
Of the amount, P85 million would be spent for tourism businesses and stakeholders to comply with government protocol in preventing the spread of the coronavirus.
“The DOT’s manpower development office will tweak its Filipino Brand of Service module to include points on how to handle guests for COVID-19 and response,” the DOT said.?This will include integration of Department of Health (DOH) guidelines in all training.
“The DOT defers to the DOH as lead agency of the Interagency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, for decisions and announcements pertaining to the COVID-19 concerns,” it added. – With Ghio Ong, Catherine Talavera