Only 6k tourists allowed to arrive in Boracay per day —DOT

The Department of Tourism (DOT) on Friday said it will limit the number of tourist arrivals in Boracay to only 6,405 per day, GMA News' Joseph Morong reported on 24 Oras on Friday.

Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said they decided to limit the maximum number of arrivals as only 19,000 tourists will be allowed in Boracay at any given time.

Boracay's soft re-opening, after its months-long rehabilitation, is scheduled on October 26.       

As a measure to prevent the world-famous resort island from being congested, the DOT said it had allowed only 25 hotels offering more than 2,000 rooms to operate for the dry run on October 15. 

Puyat cited a study that found that  the total number of room accommodations in Boracay were way past the island's carrying capacity. 

The DOT has also started coordinating with airline companies about limiting the number of flights.    

Tap cards

According to Environment spokesperson Benny Antiporda, tourists will be issued a re-loadable card to be used for on-island transactions.

"This tap card is a loadable card...wherein ire-register mo pangalan mo pagpasok mo. So pagpasok mo, naka-in ka," Antiporda said.

"Paglabas mo, siyempre, may matitirang pera du'n sa card mo, pwede mong i-refund."

Delays

Boracay was shut down for six months of rehabilitation after President Rodrigo Duterte said the tourist destination has become a "cesspool," and ordered concerned government officials to solve the environmental issues plaguing the island.
 
However, with the deadline less than a month away, the DENR admitted that several rehabilitation projects throughout the island have yet to be completed.

Antiporda maintained that the delays were due to inclement weather. He also cited a number of issues reagarding utilities on the island.

"We're having a hard time now because of the situation of our weather dahil 'yung sunod-sunod na bagyo at the same time, nag-uulan dito," he said.

"Ang problema po natin ay inilatag din underground 'yung pong electric, 'yun din pong cable. 'Yung din pong telephone companies lahat po 'yan," he added.

As earlier explained by Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu, Puyat said rehabilitation efforts are expected to continue beyond the October 26 reopening.

"You cannot rehabilitate an island in six months" she said. —Margaret Claire Layug/KBK, GMA News