Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Undersecretary and Deputy Spokesperson Benny Antiporda affirmed the agency will be looking into recent reports of foreign visitors swimming at one of Boracay’s beaches, which is a breach of the protocol set for the ongoing closure of the resort island.

According to reports, 21 delegates from the United World International Genfest 2018, a religious youth festival, were reportedly permitted to swim at the island’s Station 1 by the Aklan provincial police.

“We just learned about this through a news report from GMA-7,” Antiporda explained. “We assure you that we will look into this and determine if there is any breach [of] the protocol set by the Boracay Interagency Task Force.”

Back in April, the Department of Tourism released a list of guidelines for the public to abide by while the island is closed.

The list barred swimming, with the except for local residents, who are restricted to designated areas./WDJ