DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu’s Message
To Wit:
Good morning ladies and gentlemen.
Today marks the 23rd day since President Duterte declared the closure of Boracay to give away to a 6-month clean-up and rehabilitation work.
And since when we witnessed the cooperative effort of all government agencies mandated by President Duterte through Executive Order No.53 to save Boracay from further deterioration.
I am pleased to note as well the positive response of the locals in the rehabilitation effort as it redounds to the enormous benefits not only to them but also to the environment.
Allow me therefore to present the updates on DENR’s effort in rehabilitating the island of Boracay that includes the following:
- The Boracay Island Water Company Commitment,
- The Boracay Tubi System Incorporated Commitment,
- The monitoring of the progress of the road widening being undertaken by DPWH,
- The monitoring of the removal of structures within the 25+5-meter “No Build Zone”,
- The monitoring of the removal of illegal occupants and structures in Wetland No.6, and
- The issuance of Cease and Desist Order (CDO) to ongoing construction as per Section 3 of Executive Order No.53.
The commitment of the Boracay Island Water Company or BIWC is to divert the drainage outfall before it goes into the sea and to conduct clean-up of identified areas of the drainage system. As Per May 2, 2018 report, updates include the rechanneling of the black pipeline to the BIWC Balabag sewerage treatment plant for treatment.
As for the blue pipeline wastewater discharge, this will be diverted to the TIEZA pumping station, which will be rechanneled to the BIWC Balabag and Manoc-Manoc sewerage treatment plant where it will be treated before its discharge into the sea.
On the other hand, the commitment of the Boracay Tubi System was incorporated in the treatment of drainage outfalls as well as the rehabilitation of Wetland No.6.
The desilting and rehabilitation of all drainage lines being undertaken by the Office of the Provincial Engineering are almost complete.
Road easements are also being monitored, and some of the updates include the demolition of 100% of the structures from Cagban to Rotonda road, while there is an ongoing demolition along the main road, while other structures have been self-demolished. These demolitions were done by the DPWH and the Provincial LGU of Aklan.
On the other hand, the monitoring of the 25+5-meter no-build zone easement updates includes the ongoing recovery of NAMRIA monuments and the validation of affected structures.
There were also 206 establishments issued with show-cause orders, which translates to 66% [206 out of 308], who are violating the law.
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