THE rehabilitation efforts aimed at bringing back the pristine waters of Boracay island will take about six months, an inter-agency task force official informed President Rodrigo Duterte.
During a League of Municipalities of the Philippines event, Duterte said he was informed by Department of Interior and Local Government officer-in-charge Eduardo Año that it would “take a little bit longer” to finish the rehabilitation of Boracay.
“He [Año] told me it will take about something like six months. I told him ‘then do it,’ Duterte said in his speech during the LMP general assembly at the Manila Hotel on Tuesday night.
Duterte said he directed Año to “just make the recommendation” where the Chief Executive would base his decision on the proposed Boracay shutdown to pave the way for the rehabilitation works.
“I told him, General, you are there, I placed you there, whatever is your decision I will support you,” Duterte said, recalling his Monday night’s conversation with the inter-agency task force chief.
In a related development:
• Issuing a provisional gaming license to Macau’s Galaxy Entertainment Group has got nothing to do with the imminent closure of Boracay Island, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. Chairperson Andrea Domingo said Wednesday.
“I don’t think there’s any relationship between Galaxy, the putting up of a casino, and the closing…” Domingo told reporters in an interview at the Pagcor office in Manila.
Domingo said the closure of Boracay had been a long time coming and had got nothing to do with the Galaxy Entertainment project.
“I see no relationship in that because, again, it’s on the other side … of the area that was closed by the government,” she said.
On Wednesday, Pagcor issued a provisional gaming license to Boracay Philippines Resort and Leisure Corporation, a subsidiary of Galaxy Entertainment and its local partner Leisure & Resorts World Corp.
The partners are going to build a casino resort complex expected to cost up to $500 million in Boracay.
In a separate statement, Galaxy Entertainment vice chairman Frances Lui thanked Pagcor for the license and promised a low-rise, eco-friendly resort that would “contribute positively to the local economy and actively partner with the Boracay community.”
Duterte had warned he would charge non-cooperative local officials and appealed to the courts not to issue a temporary restraining order so as not to exacerbate the problems in Boracay.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. assured on Monday that the President would be fair in his decision based on the task force’s recommendations.
Roque said whatever the decision of the President, “it would be for the welfare of Boracay.”
The inter-agency task force has recommended a total closure of the resort island but Roque clarified that the shutdown would not be permanent.
Duterte had described Boracay as a “cesspool” due to sewage and garbage problem destroying the island’s ecosystem and endangering the health of visitors.
