The Philippines is set to deploy hundreds of riot police to Boracay island to keep travellers out and head off potential protests ahead of its six-month closure to tourists, the government said Tuesday. President Rodrigo Duterte has branded the tiny central island and its world-famous white-sand beach a “cesspool.” He has ordered visitors be kept away from April 26 so facilities to treat raw sewage can be set up and illegal structures torn down.

Lockdown plan for Boracay laid out. (2018, April 18). The Manila Times, p. A2.