DOT’s Puyat: Duterte to visit Boracay to show domestic travel safe amid COVID-19 threat

President Rodrigo Duterte is set to visit Boracay island for the first time since the destination reopened, in efforts to assure the public that domestic tourism is safe amid the threat posed by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

According to Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, Duterte will head to the Boracay island next Thursday, March 12.

"Inaanyayahan namin kayo, pupunta si Presidente Duterte sa Boracay for the first time since it opened to show that it is safe," she told reporters in Makati City.

The Department of Tourism (DOT) has been vocal in encouraging domestic tourism, as part of its initiatives to offset losses from the decline in international tourist arrivals due to the COVID-19 scare.

"The DOT's new direction is to boost domestic tourism not that inbound arrivals have expectedly decreased and of course, with several temporary travel bans in place," said Puyat.

The Philippines has implemented travel bans on mainland China, the epicenter of the COVID-19, as well as other select countries with reported cases.

Puyat said Duterte's visit to Boracay will be the first since the government implemented a six-month shutdown of the island destination in 2018.

The ongoing construction of the island's main road network, under the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), is scheduled to be completed by April or May.

"Alam ko 'yung mga road network na lang 'yung kulang and the drainage is dependent on that," said Puyat. — RSJ, GMA News