After nearly six months of rehabilitation, Boracay has opened its doors to the public but only to a limited number of people.
The world-famous island will be open for its 11-day dry run starting October 15 until October 26, which will also be the day of Boracay’s grand re-opening.
Boracay, which was once dubbed by President Rodrigo Duterte as a “cesspool”, closed for nearly half a year to clean up its sewerage systems and remove illegal structures.
During the program of Boracay’s soft opening, Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu declared that the island is now a “sight to behold”.
The island opened exclusively for Aklan and Western Visayas residents who were given the privilege to experience the rehabilitated area during the dry run.
Speaking to CNN Philippines, Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat said that the purpose of the dry run is to ensure that Boracay is ready for the number of tourists who will flock to the island when it re-opens.
“We want to invite the airlines, the tour operators so that they can see what Boracay is before they actually promote it and before the soft opening. Also, we wanted to stress that there are only 68 establishments with 3519 rooms available as of today. We want to warn the public that they can only book on those hotels that are listed on the DOT website, FB, Twitter, because we learned that a lot establishments not on the list have been accepting reservations,” CNN Philippines quoted Romulo-Puyat as saying.
Take a look at some of the photos that Filipino netizens shared on social media which showcase Boracay’s restored natural beauty.
Hello #Boracay #BeautifulAgain pic.twitter.com/lIptKR1Ys2
— Khristine C (@Wowie932) October 15, 2018
THE NOW BEAUTIFUL BORACAY BEFORE IT OPENS TO THE PUBLIC THANKS TO PRES RODRIGO ROA DUTERTE FOR HIS POLITICAL WILL TO CLOSE N CLEAN THE AWESOME BORACAY @RRD_Davao pic.twitter.com/DFKm5UyQWa
— @ItsAlwaysMe888 (@ItsAlwaysMe888) October 14, 2018
Hello from #Boracay! Just a little something to jumpstart your work week! @gmanews @UnangHirit pic.twitter.com/XswdMVsbcb
— Joseph Morong (@Joseph_Morong) October 14, 2018
Boracay opens for dry run!
GOOD MORNING PARADISE???#BoracayRehab#DuterteCares pic.twitter.com/5u0N7swvSe
— ?mestiza de chinita? (@sayiloveyoubaby) October 15, 2018
Hello #Boracay #BeautifulAgain pic.twitter.com/lIptKR1Ys2
— Khristine C (@Wowie932) October 15, 2018
LOOK: Beautiful, serene, less crowded. Boracay beachfront on the first day of the island’s opening dry run. There will be a short program on the island this morning. @ABSCBNNews pic.twitter.com/eU8y84MjxY
— Bianca Dava (@biancadava) October 15, 2018
Welcome back! #Boracay beautiful and clean once again ? pic.twitter.com/JpuIYMGYOr
— Lízä ??? (@lizaj1129) October 14, 2018
