Boracay hearing The House committee on natural resources resumes its inquiry into the reported establishment of structures in forest areas on Boracay island. Members of the inter-agency task force on rehabilitation have agreed the world famous resort island will be reopened for tourism and other economic activities as planned come October 26, but only for establishments compliant with government regulations. HPPAB PHOTO

“Barangay West Cove is built on the edge of a cliff and if you demolish that, some parts of the cliff may be affected.”

The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) is seeing a big possibility that Boracay might reopen earlier than expected.

“It’s possible that we may open earlier than October 26,” DILG Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III said, adding the inter-agency task force for the island resort’s rehabilitation program will be holding a meeting to “discuss the criteria for the soft opening of the island.”

The Boracay Inter-Agency Task Force earlier had set conditions that would pave the way for the soft opening of the island, including the dismantling of all establishments that violated building restrictions.

Densing also cited that a soft opening requires that at least 70 percent of road and drainage systems should have been in place and five out of the nine wetlands in Boracay should have been reclaimed. The island’s landfill should also be cleared of garbage.

Nevertheless, most establishments that violated laws were demolished, although Boracay’s commercial center, D’Mall, is still standing.

D’Mall, which houses shops and restaurants, was built on wetlands, a violation of environment laws.

Densing also revealed that the Boracay West Cove Resort is also set to be demolished because it straddles in a no-build zone.

“Barangay West Cove is built on the edge of a cliff and if you demolish that, some parts of the cliff may be affected. They also cemented a natural rock formation,” Densing said.

During a House hearing last Thursday, Labor and Employment Undersecretary Claro Arellano enumerated the intervention program for the rehabilitation of Boracay intended for formal and informal workers.

Arellano said the Boracay Emergency Employment Program (BEEP) working group was formed and is composed of the Departments of Social Welfare and Development, Trade and Industry, Tourism, Agriculture, Science and Technology and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority. The BEEP conducted preliminary meetings prior to the closure of Boracay, he said.

There is also a government internship program for the youth sector wherein government interns will be tapped to help in the profiling and fast-tracking of assistance to affected workers in Boracay.

Another intervention is social preparation which covers assistance for livelihood and entrepreneurship, job fair and creation of operations centers in Caticlan, Manuc-manoc, Barangay Balagbag and Eurotel.

As of June, Arellano said the total number of profiled workers reached 24,453 as encoded by the Region VI office. Of this figure, 19,689 are formal sector workers while 4,764 are informal sector workers.

But the local government unit of the municipality of Malay in Aklan reported having 17,735 formal workers, Arellano said.