(Eagle News)–The Department of the Interior and Local Government has floated the possibility of closing some areas in El Nido, Palawan for rehabilitation.
Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said in letters to Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat and Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu that Bacuit Bay and Corong Corong Outfall “may be closed from water activities to preserve the area and prevent the tourists and locals from contracting diseases.”
Año made the remark after a ground assessment from June 20 to 22, he said, found the areas were in a “dreadful condition,” with one outfall’s “fecal coliform level reaching more than 3.4 MPN/100 ML..”
“This is compounded by the presence of informal settler families, non-enforcement of easement regulations on outfalls, and unregulated dry-docking and mooring activities,” Año said.
Año recommended the convening of an El Nido Inter-Agency Rehabilitation Task Force for the possible rehabilitation of those areas.
He said the task force would be composed of the Departments of Environment and Natural Resources, the Department of Tourism and the DILG.
Earlier, the government embarked on a 6-month rehabilitation of Boracay, which President Rodrigo Duterte had described as a “cesspool.”
