Tourists return to Boracay Island as resort reopens after six month closure

(26 Oct 2018) Boatloads of tourists sailed to tiny Boracay island on Friday on the first day Philippine officials reopened the resort to visitors after a six-month closure to clean waters the president had called a "cesspool" due to overcrowding, partying and neglect.
Officials at the island in central Aklan province have imposed new rules to regulate the influx of visitors and beach parties, decongest resorts and prevent sewage from being discharged directly into the turquoise waters.
Only a portion of Boracay's hotels and other businesses have reopened under the new rules, and a fraction of the more than 20,000 workers who lost their jobs were rehired.
"Let us treat the island as our home. Keep it clean and pristine. Don't drink alcohol or smoke in the beach, don't litter," Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat said in a message to incoming tourists.
A ceremony attended by Cabinet officials and local celebrities to mark Boracay's return to business was planned on a white-sand beach near the wharf where ferries unloaded tourists.
Visitors will be kept to about 6,000 daily and they'll be asked to sign an oath to follow the new rules, including proper waste disposal and a ban on bonfires.
Only 157 of Boracay's hundreds of hotels, inns, restaurants and souvenir shops have reopened after complying with regulations, including connecting to authorized sewer pipes and maintaining a 30-meter distance from the beach waters.
President Rodrigo Duterte in February had ordered Boracay shut for rehabilitation and said the waste being discharged into the sea had made Boracay's waters a "cesspool."

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