Boracay shutdown gets no TRO from SC

The Boracay workers and one non-resident who asked the Supreme Court (SC) to stop the closure of the resort island have failed to secure immediate relief from the high tribunal.

SC Public Information Office chief Theodore Te said the SC had not issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the six-month closure of Boracay, which began on Thursday.

The three petitioners have sought a TRO and/or a writ of preliminary injunction enjoining government from closing Boracay Island upon the filing of their petition on Wednesday, the eve of the Duterte-ordered closure.

If the popular tourist destination's pushes through despite their pleading -- which it did -- the petitioners would then want a status quo ante order to restore a Boracay that was not shut off to tourists and non-residents.

The SC, however, reportedly took up the petition, which was raffled off to Associate Justice Mariano del Castillo, during its special session on Thursday.

President Rodrigo Duterte had verbally announced a half-year closure of the world-famous island following his tagging of it as a "cesspool."

On Thursday, he placed the island, which suffers from sewage problems, under state of calamity, allowing government to tap up to P2 billion to help the island's displaced workers.

The chief executive has approved the recommendation of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council for the declaration of state calamity in the barangays of Balabag, Manoc-Manoc, and Yapak in Malay town, Aklan.

In their petition for prohibition and mandamus, the National Union of People's Lawyers-assisted petitioners accused Duterte of abusing his authority granted by the Constitution and of violating the separation of powers.

They said the island's closure to tourists and non-residents "unduly oppressive" to the workers who would lose their jobs given the lack of visitors to patronize their businesses.

"They will suffer graver and irreversible damage once the closure is enforced," the pleading stated.

"Indeed, the clean-up of Boracay Island and the prosecution of those violating environmental laws are laudable objectives. Yet, the end cannot justify the means, especially when the means involved are oppressive." —NB, GMA News