Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu said it would take longer for the government to reopen Boracay Island to tourists if establishments in the famed island tourist resort will not help fix their sewerage and drainage systems. Cimatu issued the warning as he said the level of fecal coliform in the waters of Boracay is still way above the accepted and safe level. Fecal coliform, which is found in the feces of humans and animals, could diseases. The indiscriminate discharge of wastewater into the sea, Cimatu noted, is one of the main reasons for the island’s environmental ruin. “I’ll never allow Boracay’s re-opening if fecal coliform in waters there is above standard,” Cimatu said at the annual celebration of the International Day for Biological Diversity in Manila on Tuesday.

Dirty sea could delay Boracay reopening. (2018, May 24). Daily Guardian, pp. 1, 14.