MALAY LGU SPURNS ‘BIG EVENTS’

Less trash-generating, crowded ‘LaBoracay’ seen

ILOILO City – Expect a more subdued and a less garbage-generating “LaBoracay” in the world-famous Boracay as the island struggles to overcome wastewater pollution and other environmental concerns.

The local government of Malay, Aklan that has jurisdiction over Boracay announced it had stopped issuing special permits for big events related to “LaBoracay” – a portmanteau for the observance of the May 1 Labor Day in the island.

But “small organized events that are compliant to local ordinances will still be allowed,” according to the Malay local government in a public advisory posted on its Facebook page.

Started in 2013, the annual “LaBoracay” had seen the island hosting a series of crowd-drawing corporate-sponsored events such as beach parties and concerts for a week beginning April 27.

According to the Malay local government, its decision to prohibit big “LaBoracay” events this year is in line with “the rehabilitation of Boracay Island since big events for Labor Day generates a significant increase in both solid and water waste.”

The public advisory was posted on the Malay local government’s Facebook page on March 27, Good Friday.

It was not clear if the local government had already issued permits to big “LaBoracay” events in the days or weeks prior to its issuance of the public advisory, and what would happen if it had.

In 2017, a record-high 70,879 visitors flew to the island resort for weeklong parties that peaked on May 1. The events reportedly generated over 10,000 kilos of trash.

Last week, the government’s inter-agency group (Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Tourism and Department of the Interior and Local Government) recommended the cancellation of all “Laboracay” parties.

On her official Facebook page, Tourism undersecretary Katherine de Castro said this was “final” and the Aklan provincial government was bound to recommend the cancellation as well.

The decision of the inter-agency was made after a meeting with Aklan governor Florencio Miraflores who was in Manila to present a pledge of commitment to Task Force Save Boracay.

President Rodrigo Duterte gave the inter-agency six months to clean the island up.

The cleanup may entail the closure of Boracay.

According to Environment secretary Roy Cimatu, fueling the island’s degradation over the years were runaway development, the influx of people beyond the island’s carrying capacity, poor implementation of environmental regulations, and encroachment of structures.

In February, Cimatu deployed a “mission team” to address the environmental woes in the world-famous island. The team was composed of 50 personnel from six regional offices of the Environment department.

Boracay was divided into six areas. Each of the six DENR regional offices was assigned an area to work on./PN

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