Mayor Bautista welcomes proposal to increase Boracay capacity to 8K tourists

BORACAY Island, Malay Aklan-Malay Mayor Floribar Bautista said he welcomes the proposal of the Center for Environmental Law and Policy Advocacy (CELPA) Incorporated to increase the tourism capacity of Boracay to at least 8,000 tourists a day. In a phone interview,

Bautista said he met with the CELPA officials together with the DENR regional officials and Aklan Governor Jose Enrique Miraflores in the meeting held Friday at the Governor’s Office.

“The DENR officials said that Boracay’s tourism capacity could be increased to 8,000 per day. This is still subject to several adaptation processes before it can be implemented,” said Bautista.

Currently, the local government unit is organizing a local comprehensive task force that will work as a special body to ensure the environmental sustainability of this resort island.

“The said group, when formed, may adapt the proposal of the DENR-Western Visayas for implementation to Boracay in the days to come,” added Bautista. The group is composed of the local government, business organizations, and several national government agency representatives.

“The updated carrying capacity of Boracay has included that of the Bolabog beach. It  still does not include several other beaches, especially in the Yapak area,” he added,

It could be recalled that the defunct Boracay Inter-Agency Task Force (BIATF) in 2018 has limited the tourism capacity of Boracay to around 6,000 a day. The number is based on the joint study conducted by the University of the Philippines and the DENR.

In April this year, former DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu urged the department to fast track the study on the possibility of increasing the tourism capacity of Boracay.

“The (6,000 per day) study is only good at the front beach. The study does not include the possible capacity of Bulabog and other beaches in Boracay,” said Cumatu.

Artem Colacion, the information officer of the DENR-WV in his facebook post said that DENR Regional Director Livino Duran headed the presentation of the updated carrying capacity by CELPA in a face-to-face meeting.

“The presentation is being attended by DENR headed by DENR6 RED Livino B. Duran with staff from the Office of USEC Ernesto D. Adobo, Jr.; LGU Aklan Governor Joen Miraflores with Provincial Administrator Atty. Sherwin Ibareta; Malay Mayor Floribar Bautista with Sanguniang Bayan members of Malay, Aklan with other stakeholders and BIATF partners,” Colacion said.