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Friday, March 29, 2024

Cooperation sought in Boracay rehab

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Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu on Tuesday said the cooperation of various stakeholders in Aklan’s Boracay Island is crucial to its early reopening.

ACTIVISTS PROTEST. Activists from Kalikasan Peoples Network For The Environment stage a protest action in front of DENR Headquarters office in Quezon City, calling for the immediate reopening of  Boracay. Manny Palmero

He called on the stakeholders, particularly establishment owners affected by road widening and a crackdown on illegal sewerage connections, to cooperate.

He said the Stellar Hotel, a subsidiary of the chain of luxury hotels of Astoria that owns two high-end hotels in the island, has given the Department of Environment and Natural Resources the assurance to self-demolish its structures encroaching on the road easement along Bulabog Beach.

“We could have [destroyed] it before, but we gave them due process. Now, we can complete the road network, and close the main road so that the DPWH can finish everything they need to do for the road widening,” he said.

Cimatu also lauded the decision of several establishments along the main road to demolish portions of their buildings with “overhang” or floors protruding over the easement requirement.

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Cimatu maintained their stance to remove illegal settlers along wetlands to reduce the level of coliform in their waters at Wetland 3 near Bulabog and Wetland 6 in Balabag/Manocmanoc area.

“We do not only need to clean the wetlands in order to sustain the water quality along the beach. We need to restore their functions as natural filters and water reservoirs,” he said.

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