Binay warns gov’t vs. giving public false hope about Boracay re-opening

The government may have given both businesses and the public false hope by announcing the October re-opening of Boracay when the carrying capacity of the resort island is yet to be determined, Senator Nancy Binay said Monday.

“Dapat pala hindi pa natin pinag-uusapan kung kailan bubuksan. You are sending false hope kasi for investors [na] October pwede na kami mag-back to work, back to operation,” Binay, head of the Senate tourism committee, said during the hearing.

“Apparently because of this carrying capacity may posibilidad na Boracay is not yet ready to accommodate tourists o baka X number of tourists lang. Paano ang control mechanism kung X number of tourists lang ang pwedeng pumasok?” she added.

Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu said last week that Boracay Island will officially re-open to the general public on October 26.

Carrying capacity

Interior Undersecretary Epimaco Densing said during the hearing that once the DENR releases its study on Boracay's carrying capacity, the inter-agency task force will discuss how the entry of tourists will be managed.

Dr. Bighani Manipula, officer in charge-assistant director of the DENR's Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau, said they will release the study by the end of August.

He said it will be a "holistic" study compared to those released before, which only concentrated the number of tourists that can be accommodated in the swimming and bathing areas.

“We will be doing it in a holistic approach, including the waste, the liquid waste. We will consider population, traffic, establishments,” he said.

Densing said that based on a 2008 study, Boracay has a carrying capacity of 35,000 people. However, carries 60,000 on ordinary days and as many as 110,000 during peak season. The study also showed that Boracay has 32,500 residents.

Binay is planning to inspect Boracay in August to check on the progress of the rehabilitation effort after Densing urged her to visit the island.

The senator initially asked Densing for a picture of Boracay but the DILG official said he does not have any at the moment.

“Wala ba kayong picture ng Boracay na pwede n’yo namang ibida sa amin? Ang daming lumalabas ngayon sa Facebook, with the fake new smakakaisip ka kung totoo ba ito o hindi,” Binay said.

To which Densing replied: “It would be better if you go there yourself. ‘Yung Bulabog beach sa likod kung pumunta kayo doon very brown po ‘yun tapos maamoy. Slowly, wala na ‘yung amoy at nagiging blue na yung Bulabog beach.”

Binay said she will seriously consider conducting the next hearing in Boracay or someplace near.

“Hopefully by next month, baka first week of August, iba din kasi kung nakikita natin kung ano talaga ang hitsura ng Boracay,” she said. — BM, GMA News