BORACAY Island continues to receive tourists coming from different provinces despite the new restrictions implemented in the National Capital Region (NCR) due to the surge in Covid-19 cases.

Malay Acting Mayor Frolibar Bautista said they have yet to study the impact of tourism with the new restriction expected to last for two weeks.

President Rodrigo Duterte announced on Monday, March 21, that residents of NCR and several adjacent areas were prohibited to non-essential travel because of the rising Covid-19 cases.

But the Malay Tourism Office released an advisory Monday night that Boracay remains open for tourists coming from NCR and other areas under general community quarantine (GCQ) status or lower.

"Departure restrictions from NCR and other new GCQ identified places, which are restricted with ‘essential travels only,’ are binded to guidelines set by the place of origin, not by Boracay," read the advisory.

But the restriction may pose a bigger disruption to the increasing number of arrivals in Boracay, as it has been imposed during the Holy Week celebration.

Traditionally, Holy Week is the time when the highest number of tourists coming to Boracay is recorded. The Holy week this year starts April 28 and will end on April 4.

Records from the Malay Tourism Office showed that from March 1 to 21, Boracay registered some 15,472 tourists coming from different regions and provinces.

Of the number, 9,773 tourists were from the NCR and the rest were from other areas in the country. (SunStar Philippines)