BORACAY Island’s business community said the 6-month closure of the resort Island effective April 26 is “a tough pill to swallow,” but they are ready to cooperate and do their part in the rehabilitation efforts.
They want to know, however, what the exact plan is.
“We are ready to do our part/share as the business community, and we seek and need clarity (on) the exact plan,” the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) Boracay chapter said in a statement Thursday night, April 5.
The chamber, led by president Elena Tosco Brugger, vowed that they “will be part of the solution.”
Another group, Boracay Foundation Inc., said in a separate statement that they are as confused as the rest of the community because the declaration to shut down Boracay beginning April 26 was made “with no clear and specific guidelines.”
If a request for dialogue is granted, the foundation will ask, among others: “What are the specific closure and rehabilitation plan and timeline?”
The foundation also wants to know what benchmark would have to be met to allow the reopening of Boracay in less than six months.
These were among the 10 questions that the foundation prepared to discuss the details of the island’s closure.
PCCI-Boracay held an urgent board meeting Thursday, a day after President Rodrigo Duterte approved the recommendation of an inter-agency task force to close the island to tourists for six months to pave the way for its rehabilitation.
The task force - composed of the Departments of Tourism, Environment and Natural Resources, and the Interior and Local Government - was formed to look for measures to rehabilitate the island, one of the most popular island destinations globally, after Duterte called it a “cesspool.”
Brugger said the board has raised the need to consider the full economic impact of such a closure. Earlier, the chamber said at least 17,000 direct employees will lose their jobs.
“It’s a tough pill to swallow, but now that Boracay closure is decided, we would like the full economic impact to be taken into account,” the chamber said in its statement.
Local Government Assistant Secretary Epimaco Densing III on Thursday said the government stands to lose up to P20 billion in gross receipts if the island is shut down for six months.
"If we will go through the full six months, it could reach around P18 (billion) to P20 billion potential loss in gross receipts. That's why it is not to the interest of everybody to go the full six months. We have to fast track everything," he told Palace reporters.
Environment Undersecretary Jonas Leones said the task force would focus on upgrading the sewer lines, restoring the drainage system, and inspecting illegal structures in the forest lands and wetlands in the next six months. (Marites Villamor-Ilano/SunStar Philippines)