ACTING Malay Mayor Floribar Bautista said the Municipal Tourism Office recorded 12,159 tourists who visited Boracay Island on Maundy Thursday alone, April 14, 2022.
The unexpected surge of tourists resulted in lack of electric vehicles that will bring them to their hotels.
"As a result, I have to order our traffic enforcers to allow our habal-habal to temporarily assist in the transport of both tourists and residents to their destinations. This will only last until Monday, April 18. After which, they will be back on their respective route, which is at the back roads of Boracay," he said.
Bautista said all of the tourists have been accommodated, as some boarding houses in the island have also accepted visitors.
He said the surge happened probably because more people have wanted to go out following a series of lockdowns due to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.
He said wanted to make Boracay a place for high-end tourists.
"If I could be given a leeway, to prevent overcrowding of Boracay and manage and preserve the environment of Boracay, the resort island would be converted to a high-end destination wherein hotel rooms would be upgraded into international standards. The Class C and D tourists will be encouraged to stay at the mainland and allow them to go to Boracay during day time to swim and return to their cheaper lodging rooms in Malay to rest," Bautista said.
He said he wants this implemented to prevent overcrowding in the island and at the same time minimize the amount of both human wastes and garbage.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Don Dicksie De Dios, chief of the Malay Municipal Police Station, said despite the surge of tourists, the Holy Week in Boracay was peaceful.
"We deployed 270 uniformed policemen in Boracay and tourists have been adhering to the safety protocols. I also commend our police personnel for their maximum tolerance," he said.
Aside from the police, other government enforcers such as the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine Coast Guard, among others, also deployed their own teams to secure Boracay during the Holy Week. (SunStar Philippines)