MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte signed an executive order (EO) creating an inter-agency group tasked to “reverse” the condition of the world-famous Boracay Island.
Duterte signed EO 53 on Tuesday, two weeks after the start of the up-to-six-month closure and rehabilitation of the island resort.
“Years of indiscriminate development have led to the environmental degradation, pollution, and the depletion and destruction of the island’s diversity,” part of the EO stated.
It also recognized that what is happening in Boracay is “no longer a purely local matter but a national concern that needs concerted national and local cooperation and synchronization of plans and programs.”
Under the EO, the task force shall ensure that policies in Boracay are consistent with relevant laws, rules and regulations in the country.
The task force must also review and consolidate existing master plans, and formulate the Boracay Action Plan toward sustainable tourism development.
Its powers and functions also include coordinating with concerned agencies and local government units for the immediate withholding or revoking permits or licenses issued to any establishment that violate environmental laws and ordinances.
The Boracay Inter-agency Task Force shall be composed of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources as chair, Department of Interior and Local Government as vice chair, Department of Tourism as co-vice chair, and Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Trade and Industry, Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority, Philippine National Police, local government units in Aklan as members./PN
