ISLANDERS FIRST Boracay residents will have their beaches to themselves with tourists still banned on the island. | Inquirer File Photo
ILOILO CITY, Iloilo, Philippines — Swimming will be finally allowed on Boracay Island even if it remains closed to tourists.
Acting Mayor Frolibar Bautista of Malay town said the swimming ban will be lifted as Boracay Island, which is part of Aklan province, and the rest of Western Visayas shifted to modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) starting on Monday.
Swimming, however, will still be regulated to ensure physical distancing and other health measures.
“We may designate swimming areas along the 4.5-kilometer beach and regulate the number of those going there at a time. It will depend on a trial run in the next few days,” Bautista told the Inquirer on Sunday.
Under the guidelines issued by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), indoor and outdoor noncontact sports including swimming are allowed under MGCQ provided that minimum public health standards are followed.
Bautista said no tourists will still be allowed on Boracay Island. But a number of tourists remain stranded on the island.
Local chief executives of Panay Island’s provinces of Iloilo, Antique, Aklan and Capiz and of the island-province of Guimaras have also agreed to lift border restrictions. But Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas said they agreed that ports and airports in Western Visayas would stay closed and would only accommodate returning overseas Filipino workers and stranded residents.