DILG exec proposes compliance audit for each Boracay establishment

An official of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Wednesday is proposing to conduct compliance audit for around 1,800 establishments in Boracay.

"Part of the program that I will be proposing today is we have to have a compliance audit for each establishment [on] the island. Simply saying you're compliant and we discover you're not compliant, so we have to audit all of you," DILG Assistant Secretary Epimaco Densing said in an interview on ANC television.

Densing said there are no specific resort-hotels yet that they want to be demolished even if some of the establishments do not have environmental compliance certificate (ECC) while others are supposedly operating without the mayor's permit.

"We have to be very specific about these resorts. Everyday, we discover a lot of things, for instance, these resorts have been saying they're compliant [but] end up not be compliant at all," he said.

"On the environment side, many of them do not have an ECC, many of them do not have an environmental impact assessment and to some extent some of them are operating without a mayor's permit and this is something that we have to look into," he added.

The Departments of Environment and Natural Resources, Interior and Local Government, and Tourism have already reached a decision to recommend the closure of Boracay for six months effective April 26, just days before the "Laboracay" parties which draws thousands of tourists annually.

This came in even after presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said that the possible closure would not take place during the peak season or summer break.

Calling the world-famous vacation spot a “cesspool” in February, President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to close Boracay.

His statement triggered a crackdown on establishments and stakeholders on the island for violations of environmental laws and policies.

Stakeholders have voiced their concerns that closing the island for up to one year could result in at least P56 billion in foregone revenues, and render as much as 36,000 people jobless.

Instead of the planned six-month full closure of the island, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that a three-phased closure would be a "win-win" solution.

The President is likely to release his decision on Wednesday. — Marlly Rome Bondoc/RSJ, GMA News