Duterte slams Boracay as ‘cesspool,’ threatens to shut down island

http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/10/...cay-as-cesspool-threatens-to-shut-down-island

Rody's just gone up in my estimation.

he is doing well

Was in Boracay in September. I didn't notice anything untoward in the beach area, although the town area was pretty filthy I guess.

We went in a Chinese restaurant in the town, which, let's just say, didn't agree with everyone.

Loved it there though.

Not everyone's choice for a vacation but I've enjoyed my visits there .Many changes and much investment since my first visit in 2014, but the infrastructure , particularly the tiny roads cannot keep up .
I'm sure the pollution problem will be dealt with , it's far too great a source of tourist income to put at risk, especially time like this (Chinese NewYear )

And about time too.

Yup and in the traditional way of bribing the officials making the inspections. Almost exactly ten years ago, my now wife spent a week on Boracay and the pollution was bad then. Walk down some of the back streets and you could see and smell the faeces in the open drains.

yes this is not some new thing that has only started in the past year or so. It's had a reputation for being an open Sewer-by-the-Sea for years. I went in 2004 and enjoyed it but it was already well tacky by then really, and I never felt the slightest inclination to return. The island is too small, and hardly anybody living on it, was born on it. Other islands have a proper identity where it is the inhabitants ancestral home, rather than just being somewhere where people go to take a holiday, or for a job. Hardly anybody has a real stake in the place and it shows.

I have never visited Boracay... or had the inclination to do so, but if it is in the same filthy state as most of the rest of the country, which if we are honest , is ( tragically) becoming no more than a giant landfill site, then this report comes as no surprise to me.

Looks nice in that pic, but you can bet your bottom dollar that there will be litter strewn everywhere in the nearby streets and vegetation.

I hate having 'tourists' (sniff ) around me anyway... so definitely not my scene, even if 'pristine'.

White Beach with its powdery white sand ,being the “tourist strip” is pretty clean and maintained quite well compared with many Philippine Beaches .You can sometimes get a lot of seaweed at the waters edge . The back streets of course don’t receive the same level of care ,but it’s a lot cleaner than many places that I’ve visited there . Not for everyone though ,many quieter places .

Try dropping a sweetie paper on a Davao City street and see how much that costs you! And it's not just Davao, there are many places around the islands with the same sort of civic pride. There our trash was collected daily - here too in Malta, as it happens - but many of you living in England have to contend with two, three or even four week delays between collections.

then there's Appley beach--Ryde--15 minutes walk from my house.....

My wife loves it there but I'm not such a huge fan, prefer quieter places

the roads look a lot better than where i live. pot hole nightmare here.

my wife hated the high temperatures--she much prefers the climate here in the UK

From what I remember, we had a lovely hotel/apartment, and the beach area was very nice. I, personally, enjoyed the buzz and there atmosphere there too - particularly the beach bars and the live music.

To get to the beach, we had to walk down a short road. this road was full of pot-holes, and when it rained the drains flowed over and the road became flooded. It never really bothered me, to be honest. I just saw it as part of what it is there. But I can see how some people might not like that part of things, particularly people with mobility issues.