Members of the Philippines House of Representatives have approved the establishment of the Boracay Island Development Authority (BIDA) as plans continue for the reopening of the holiday island.
BIDA will manage, develop, operate, preserve and rehabilitate the Boracay Island Development Zone, which includes all of Boracay Island and surrounding islets including Barangay Caticlan. In 2018, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte closed the island to tourism, declaring the local hospitality industry had turned it into a “cesspool.” He also ordered a major cleanup, and in August, opted to reopen the island, both for tourism and for development.
Leisure and Resorts World Corp. (LRWC), which had planned a $500 million casino on Boracay, plans to revive talks with Macau’s Galaxy Entertainment on the project. Billionaire Andrew Tan and his Alliance Global Group also have an eye on Boracay, which is known for its white-sand beaches.
Under BIDA, all new tourism facilities will be required to meet “international standards of excellence” to maintain Boracay as an “environmentally sustainable and safety-conscious tourism destination.
The Catholic Church and local business groups oppose the plan, according to the Philippine Star. “Boracay is God’s gift … to the world,” said Bishop Jose Corazon Tala-oc of the Diocese of Kalibo. “It has become a family destination, a venue for educational advancement and entrepreneurship. I appeal to our leaders in the province not to allow gambling casinos that will destroy our cherished island.”
Andrea Domingo, head of the state-run gaming regulator, the Philippines Amusement and Gaming Corp., says such projects will create tens of thousands of new jobs and help the country recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.
