By ANALOU DE VERA
TOURISM Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said that the target reopening of the world-famous Boracay Island on Oct. 26 will push through, with at least 5,000 hotel rooms are expected to open.
“We agreed (Boracay Interagency Task Force) that it would be opened October 26 but soft-opening,” said Puyat during a television interview Wednesday.
“We see that probably only about 3,000 to 5,000 rooms would be opened which means that they will be 100 percent compliant (with the requirements set by the interagency task force),” she added.
Puyat said that Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Roy Cimatu will soon be reporting the carrying capacity of the island and they will be discussing on how to enforce it.
Meantime Puyat said Boracay will no longer be a “party place” but rather a peaceful one with more sustainable tourism when it re-opens.
In a television interview, Puyat said the DoT, alongside the DENR and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), want to maintain Boracay “as it is.” She said, “Definitely…it won’t be a party place anymore…because we wanted it to be as it is more peaceful, and we want to promote sustainable tourism,” Puyat told Karen Davila in ANC’s “Headstart.”
As to whether a curfew will be imposed in the island, Puyat said the matter will still be discussed with DENR Secretary Cimatu and DILG Secretary Eduardo Año. (with a report from MB Online)