‘Busy’ Duterte won’t visit Boracay ‘in the near future’ -Palace

President Rodrigo Duterte will not travel to Boracay “in the near feature” because he is busy with work, his spokesperson Harry Roque said Friday.

Boracay on Thursday reopened to tourists outside Western Visayas as part of the government’s plan to revive the tourism industry that has suffered huge losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There were no reported COVID-19 cases on the world-renowned island.

“It’s [the] abnormal times but I’m sure he would love to visit Boracay as well,” Roque told CNN Philippines in an interview. “But right now, he’s actually very busy in Malago [Malacañang Golf Clubhouse] nowadays so I don’t think a visit to Boracay in the near future could happen.”

Roque, however, is not ruling out the possibility that Duterte will eventually visit Boracay.

“Let’s not discount it because it’s important to encourage people to assist our tourism industry,” he said.

Duterte had previously urged Filipinos to travel with him and see the Philippines' famous tourist spots.

The President was even scheduled to go to Boracay on March 12 to meet with tourism stakeholders and distribute land titles to agrarian reform beneficiaries but he canceled it in light of the COVID-19 situation in the country.—AOL, GMA News