It was like being struck by super typhoon “Yolanda”. This was how a Boracay-based alliance of various basic and sectoral organizations described the island’s closure from April 26 to Oct. 25. While the government praised itself for the six-month island shutdown for a massive rehabilitation, members of the group We Are Boracay claimed they were “feeling mixed emotions of grief and anger.” “The so-called rehabilitation is full of deceit and a disaster to our lives and livelihood,” according to the alliance’s statement released on Oct. 26 when Boracay was officially reopened to tourism activities.

Tayona, G. (2018, October 29). Grief and anger: For Boracay’s poor sectors, closure worse than ‘Yolanda’. Panay News, pp. 1, 14.