BORACAY – The Malay Municipal Tourism Office (MTO) is expecting a five-percent increase in the number of tourist arrivals in this famed island resort this Holy Week.
This amid closure threats and environmental woes in Boracay.
The MTO is targeting to accommodate 58,000 tourists this year.
Last year, the island accommodated at total of 54,887 visitors, composed of 19,490 foreign tourists, 34,613 domestic tourists and 784 overseas Filipino tourists, said Municipal Tourism Operations Officer Felix Delos Santos.
Under Sangguniang Bayan Resolution No. 15 series of 2009, vacationers and business establishments are prohibited to play loud music from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Good Friday and Black Saturday.
Holy Week activities in Boracay include the blessing of palms on March 25, the “Kumpisalang Bayan” on March 26, and house visitation of apostles from March 27 to 28.
The Mass of the Last Supper is scheduled on March 29 while the Stations of the Cross procession – from Barangay Manoc-manoc chapel to Barangay Balabag parish church – and the Seven Last Words, on March 31.
The “Salubong,” on the other hand, will be on April 1, Easter Sunday.
Local security personnel are on alert to ensure peace and order in the island. These personnel include those from the Metro Boracay Task Force, the Boracay Police Community Precinct, the Boracay Fire Substation, and the Boracay Action Group-Boracay Fire Rescue and Volunteers.
Personnel from the Aklan Provincial Police Office 2nd Company Mobile Force will also augment the local security personnel.
Caticlan port administrator Niven Maquirang said police officers, K-9 units and members of the Philippine Coast Guard are deployed to secure Cagban and Caticlan ports. (Aklan Forum Journal/PN)
