By Hannah Torregoza
Senators will ask President Rodrigo Duterte not to implement a full closure of Boracay Island.
Senator Cynthia Villar, head of the Senate committee on environment and natural resources, said Sunday they would recommend to the President that only non-compliant establishments be closed, not the ones operating properly.
Villar conducted an ocular inspection of the popular tourist spot late last week.
“Ang amin pong napagkasunduan ng mga senators ay hilingin kay President na huwag naman mag-total closure, (we have agreed to ask the President not to impose a total closure),” Villar said in an interview over Radio DZBB.
“Isa-suggest namin na i-close yung mga non-compliant, at yung mga compliant, pabayaang magpatuloy kasi pano natin mae-encourage ang compliance kung lahat pati compliant ay masasara?(we will suggest to close only those non-compliant establishments, but those compliant should be allowed to operate because how can we encourage compliance if all of them are going to be closed?),” she pointed out.
Villar, four other senators—Nancy Binay, Joel Villanueva, Loren Legarda and Juan Miguel Zubiri found that the primary violation committed by certain establishments in the island was the failure to implement the solid waste management law.