Management group seeks understanding as Boracay rehab not yet over

Boracay Island, Aklan -- The Boracay Inter Agency Rehabilitation Management Group (BIARMG) urged both tourists and residents in this resort island to be understanding as Boracay continuously is undergoing environmental rehabilitation.

In a press conference held at Casa Pilar Wednesday afternoon, July 17, Natividad Bernardino, chair of the BIARMG, said that they were saddened by many critics on social media after Boracay experienced flooding brought about by the heavy rains of Tropical Storm Falcon.

“We seek for understanding and patience from everyone as Boracay is still undergoing rehabilitation. Rest assured that all of this would come to pass when the rehabilitation of Boracay is expected to end by May 2020,” she said.

For his part, Aklan district engineer Noel Fuentebella said that even after the rehabilitation program, this resort island may still experience occasional flood incidents in the coming years. “With what happened to Falcon, we experienced a huge bulk of rain water in the resort island which results to flooding. What we could do is to prepare our roads, sewerage and drainage to immediately address incidents of flooding in the future,” said Fuentebella.

 It could be recalled that President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the closure of this resort island for six months last year. Boracay was once again opened for tourism last October despite the marching order that it should work on continuous road and environmental road rehabilitation for two years.

Guv: Boracay ranking 9th in Asia's best islands due to rehab

AKLAN Governor Florencio Miraflores is hoping Boracay Island would "regain its glory" after it was ranked ninth in Travel+Leisure Magazine's 2019 best islands in Asia.

Boracay was named the best island not only in Asia but in the world in 2012.

Miraflores attributed the downgrade in Boracay's rating to the ongoing rehabilitation of the island.

He admitted that he was saddened by it, considering that Boracay was named the second best island in 2018. In 2017, it ranked third.

"I am not confident with Boracay's current ratings. I hope Boracay would regain its glory as soon as the ongoing rehabilitation has been finished," he said.

The rehabilitation started in April 2018 after President Rodrigo Duterte named the resort island a "cesspool" and ordered it closed for six months. It was reopened six months after its closure, but the rehabilitation has been extended for two years