BORACAY CLOSURE

MACRO AND MICRO EFFECTS

INTRODUCTION

Boracay is a small island in the

central Philippines. Its known for its
resorts and beaches. Along the west
coast, white beach is backed by palm
trees, bars and restaurants. On the
east coasts, strong winds make
bulabog beach for a water sports.
Nearby the observation deck on
mount luho offers panoramic views
over the island. Offshore, coral reefs
and shipwrecks are home to diverse
marine life.
 But, despite of the beautiful surroundings, there is
always a risk at all times. The tropical island boracay
was devastated due to the different causes. There will
always be a limit even for our nature and day by day,
the condition will be worsened if not prevented.
 In a business forum held in February 9,2018,
president Rodrigo duterte called the island of boracay a
“cesspool” and announced plans to close the island and
tourists and conduct a rehabilitation on the island in
june 2018 to resolve the worsening sewage conditions
there.
 PHILIPPINES SHUT DOWN TOURIST
ISLAND BORACAY FOR SIX MONTHS

The Philippines government will

be closing its most famous holiday
island Boracay to tourists for six
months in order to clean it up after
concerns that rapid development
and pollution was threatening its
idyllic shores.
Philippine President Rodrigo
Duterte has ordered the shutdown
to start on April 26, the president's
spokesman Harry Roque said.
 The island, whose revenue makes up 20 percent of
country's total tourism industry, will be off-limits to
visitors during the clean-up.
"Boracay is known as paradise in our nation and
this temporary closure is meant to ensure that the next
generations will also experience that," Roque said.
 The closure, however, will affect at least 15,000
workers on the island, said Al Jazeera's Jamela
Alindogan a reporter.
"Additionally, there's no assurance that there will
still be a job or a business to return to six months from
now," she said.
 "Several environmentalists praise Duterte's actions,
saying that what they want right now is to ensure the
issue of sustainability is at the forefront of the
discussion when it comes to environmental concerns,"
she added.
Boracay became a popular tourist destination in
2010 and has since then landed on the covers and lists
of travel magazines. Almost two million tourists visited
the island in 2017.
CAUSES OF THE CLOSURE OF BORACAY

The tourism boom on Boracay brought jobs and

investment but strained the island's water and rubbish
disposal systems and its sewer system.
Corruption, mismanagement, tourism and
environmental degredation. It has been also discovered
that 2000 businesses were illegally connected to the
island
MANILA, PHILIPPINES – PRESIDENT RODRIGO DUTERTE POINTED AN ACCUSING
FINGER AT LOCAL GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS IN BORACAY ISLAND, SAYING THEY
ARE TO BLAME FOR POLLUTION IN THE POPULAR TOURIST DESTINATION.
(RAPPLER)
 He warned he would file complaints against them
for "serious neglect of duty," days after he threatened to
"close" Boracay if its environmental woes are not
addressed.
"I will charge you [with] serious neglect of duty
[for] making Boracay a sewer pool, sa inyo 'yan diyan
(that's your problem)," he said on Monday, February
12, during a speech at the Vicente Sotto Memorial
Medical Center in Cebu City.
 Duterte accused local government officials of being
too "zealous" in approving the construction of various
commercial establishments in Boracay, to take
advantage of its tourism boom.
He said they approved such construction without
properly monitoring the establishments' compliance
with sewerage regulations, to the detriment of
Boracay's ecosystems.
"You allowed buildings to be constructed without the proper
sewerage….You created a disaster there," said the President.
He gave an ultimatum to the local officials and the
Department of Environment and Natural Resources
(DENR).
“EITHER THEY CLEAN IT UP OR I WILL CLOSE IT
PERMANENTLY," Duterte said.
The President has given Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu
6 months to address the environmental problems in Boracay
and has approved "in principle" an executive order creating
a task force for this.
 MICROECONOMIC EFFECT OF THE
BORACAY CLOSURE

According to Nine News Australia, there was a zero

income on businesses in boracy islands. (Steve
Broderick) a boracay sailor, said to an iterview that
there is no tourists in boracay because they are not
allowed to enter. This causes him to lose his customers.
 Another was Andre Bruthart, who owns a
resort in boracay in which he said that there
were no moneys coming in but a lot of money
coming out.
Also, the d*mall adventure in boracay
islands was a ghost town. The local was forced
to work by picking up garbage and sweeping
the streets.
 But despite of the presidents decision to close the
boracay, the residents agreed with the decision and said
that it was a decision to help the boracay to be
sustained for the future generations, for the livelihood
to be renewed and for the cleanliness of Boracay.
 MACROECONOMIC EFFECT OF BORACAY
CLOSURE

NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT. National Economic and

Development Authority says the planned temporary
closure of Boracay will not have a significant impact on
the country's economic growth.
MANILA, Philippines – While the proposed 6-month
shutdown of Boracay Island will have a minimal impact
on the country’s economic growth, it can have an adverse
short term impact on the local economy, the National
Economic and Development Authority (NEDA)
 Reynaldo Cancio, director for national policy and
planning at NEDA, said in a media briefing on Tuesday
that a 6-month closure is estimated to "only have a
0.1% impact" on the gross domestic product (GDP)
growth.
"Even if the ban extends to up to 6 months, it would
not impact the macrofundamentals," Cancio added.
(READ: 36,000 jobs, P56 billion 'at stake' if Boracay
closed for a year).
 NEDA Undersecretary for Policy and Planning
Rosemarie Edillon said that NEDA has submitted to
the Office of the President its recommendations, and
the possible economic impact of the planned Boracay
closure.
"We can’t discuss details, but we can discuss in
broad strokes. We do have a count on how many jobs
will be affected," Edillon said during the briefing in
Pasig City.
 CONCLUSION

In conclusion, it is easy to see that the decision to

close boracay island for 6 months was an extremely
difficult one and to enforce such strict rules and
regulations onto such tiny island has made the Philippine
president an unpopular guy. But what he has done is
shown that he cares about his country and he wants to
protect it for the future. The monetary loss in tourism
doesn’t compare to the future. The monetary loss in
tourism doesn’t compare to the potential environmental
loss that could have happened if boracay was not closed
down.