BORACAY – The Malay local government has advised “Laboracay” organizers to stage “low-key” events after the inter-agency concerned in restoring this famed island destination suggested cancelling the annual May 1 revelries.
“What we advise to organizers is to put up a low-key event. But this is all hanging kasi ‘pag na-close ang Boracay at that time, it will be moot and academic to cancel anything,” Executive Assistant to the Mayor Rowen Aguirre said in a statement.
One of the organizers, the Red Whistle Organization, has already cancelled its Labor Day events in the island.
“The Red Whistle Organization would like to inform our event partners, suppliers, sponsors, celebrity ambassadors, and lifeguard volunteers, that we have decided to cancel #SaveSexyLaBoracay2018,” the group’s statement said.
In her official Facebook page, Department of Tourism (DOT) undersecretary Katherine de Castro has said the cancellation was “final.”
De Castro also said the Aklan provincial government is “bound to recommend” the cancellation.
On Thursday, Gov. Florencio Miraflores told CNN Philippines that he “will be recommending to the local government of Malay that we should defer this (Laboracay) for the meantime because we are now in the process of cleaning up our drainage, our sewage system.”
The decision of the inter-agency group – composed of the DOT, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) – was made after meeting Miraflores in Manila last week.
Partygoers from various parts of the country and the world come to Boracay every May 1 to participate in revelries set for the annual event.
The event, which usually lasts up to six days, may cause more damage to the island, DILG assistant secretary Epimacio Densing said.
“Because at Laboracay we’re talking about 30-40,000 people at any given time on the island for six straight days. That will actually add up to the pollutant and the destruction or degradation of the water system in the area for that few days,” Densing said.
The DOT earlier said the inter-agency group awaits President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision on the island’s timetable for rehabilitation.
Last week, the inter-agency group suggested closing the island to domestic and foreign tourists starting April 26 and six months thereafter “[i]n view of the recent developments and concerns surrounding the island of Boracay.”
It earlier recommended shutting down the island for a year. (With reports from ABS-CBN News, PNA, CNN Philippines/PN)
