With the Boracay rehabilitation underway as of last week, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) revealed they also plan to review the Boracay Master Plan and integrate it with their Northern Aklan Master Plan.

The project would seek to boost tourism in both the areas near Boracay, along with the entirety of Aklan.

Upon the island’s closure last Thursday, DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu affirmed his agency’s plans to rehabilitate the popular tourist destination.

“We intend, as President Rodrigo Roa Duterte directed, to put in place, what we might call, a ‘first aid’ solution to Boracay’s woes,” he stated. “We will put its sewage and solid waste systems in place, we will demolish illegal structures – big or small – in the foreshore and protected areas, in the wetlands and forest lands, and even within the road easements.”

The cabinet official also called for ‘all hands on deck,’ seeking the assistance of every sector that helped bring Boracay to the prominence it holds in the tourism community.

“Government will not and should not do the ‘clean-up’ alone,” Cimatu noted. “We will provide adequate security and fast, reliable, and friendly government services, but we need your help to ensure that Boracay remains at its best now and in the future.”/WDJ