MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte said he is not inclined to declaring Boracay Island or any part of it as a commercial area.
His remark was an off-topic response to a question on his recent trip to China and Hong Kong upon his return to the Philippines.
“If you will lose your billions there, I’m sorry, because I said I am not signing any proclamation until the end of my term,” Duterte said at the Davao International Airport on Friday.
Duterte was asked to give details on his bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, particularly on the South China Sea row and the possible joint exploration with China.
He went to China to attend the Boao Forum and to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for a working visit.
According to Duterte, the Supreme Court has classified the top tourist destination in Aklan province as “forestal” and “agriculture.”
“So kung magpagawa ka diyan ng hotel, disgrasya ka, because it’s agriculture. Then we will have to dismantle your hotel, suffer the loss and losses, and that’s a problem,” he said.
Four days prior, Duterte announced that he will make Boracay a “land reform area” and distribute it to farmers.
Duterte also said on Friday former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo never signed any proclamation segregating a portion of Boracay as commercial.
In 2006, Arroyo issued Proclamation No. 1064 declaring the island resort as forestland and agricultural land.
“And yet you find so many hotels, entertainment and everything. And even something like, mentioned like something, sabi, ‘o casino.’ I never discussed that,” Duterte said.
Critics said Duterte’s order to close Boracay down for six months will give way to the establishment of a mega casino-resort.
The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. has granted Galaxy Entertainment Group and its local partner Leisure and Resorts World Corp. a gaming license to operate a $500-million integrated 23-hectare casino-resort in the island.
Duterte – who met with the owner of the Macau-based Galaxy Entertainment in Malacañang in December 2017 – denied knowledge about the planned casino-resort construction.
“Tapos anuhin na, ‘Duterte’s.’ If you really want to know ang sa puso ko, I would give it to the farmers kasi agriculture iyan,” said the President.
Duterte critic Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV said the President was “clearly lying again.”
Trillanes and Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate of Bayan Muna party-list were pushing for a Congress investigation into the closure of Boracay.
“His (Duterte) communications office released photos in December 2017, showing Macau gambling executives making a courtesy call to Duterte to discuss the plans for casino construction. Even Tourism secretary Wanda Teo admitted that this was the agenda during the courtesy call,” Trillanes said.
Aside from the closure, Trillanes and Zarate also wanted lawmakers to look into the planned construction of the casino-resort.
According to Trillanes, the government failed to lay down the master plan for Boracay’s rehabilitation.
The senator sought to know the readiness of government agencies in assisting the sectors who will be affected.
“Barely two weeks before the impending shutdown, the government had yet to present a blueprint on how it will rehabilitate the island and mitigate the impact of the said closure to its inhabitants,” Trillanes said in a resolution.
“No clear plans and guidelines on how the government will handle the dislocation of workers and losses of business operators are in place,” he added.
For his part, Zarate said the rehabilitation of Boracay is “long overdue.”
But “there is serious concern that these issues, however valid, may ease local small businesses and jobs of tens of thousands of people to give way to the big-ticket project,” he said.
The mega casino-resort will add more burden to the island and its people and environment, said Zarate.
“The carrying capacity – or the population that an area can support without undergoing deterioration – of Boracay was estimated to have been already been exceeded in 2010 or 2011, according to the Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources,” he said.
On Feb. 9 Duterte announced that he will order the closure of Boracay, which he said has turned into a “cesspool.”
The DENR, the Department of the Interior and Local Government, and the Department of Tourism recommended Boracay’s closure for six months starting April 26. Duterte approved it on April 4./PN
