President Rodrigo Duterte has approved an action plan that will maintain the government’s rehabilitation efforts in Boracay, Malacañang said Tuesday.
Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said Duterte approved the plan during the 39th Cabinet meeting on Monday.
“We will likewise announce the approval of the Boracay Medium-Term Action Plan that will sustain the efforts of the government after its closure,” Panelo said in a statement.
The action plan has four themes, according to Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia and National Economic and Development Authority Undersecretary Adoracion Navarro.
These include enforcing the laws regulating the number of visitors and hotel accommodations and intervening in the sewerage infrastructure and solid and liquid waste management.
The action plan will also ensure the rehabilitation and recovery of the ecosystems and the sustainability of activities on the island, such as the improvement of roads and public health infrastructure, the construction of permanent housing for indigenous people and education facilities.
Last year, Duterte ordered the temporary closure of Boracay due to the dilapidated sewerage system and the surge in the number of tourists visiting it.
Boracay reopened its doors to tourists in October 2018, after the inter-agency task force assigned to conduct the rehabilitation plan had approved the reopening.