In a last-ditch effort to keep their employment, sources of income, and livelihood, a group of workers has asked the Supreme Court to stop the closure of Boracay Island for six months starting today.
The workers pleaded for a Temporary Restraining Order.
It was not immediately known if the petition on Boracay’s closure would be taken up by the SC during its full court session today that was set for the release of the results of the 2017 Bar examinations.
The petition filed through the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers told the SC that the closure order was a violation of the workers’ constitutional rights.
It said that the closure of Boracay to tourists and non-residents violates the peoples’ right to travel guaranteed under Section 6, Article 3 of the 1987 Constitution.
“Imposing restrictions upon persons visiting Boracay Island or depriving persons earning a living therein, even though they have not been found guilty of violating environmental laws, is arbitrary, whimsical, and unreasonable intrusion into individual rights, and a violation of the right to due process,” it stressed. (Rey G. Panaligan)
