20 MARCH 2021, SATURDAY Headline STRATEGIC March 20, 2021 COMMUNICATION & Editorial Date INITIATIVES Column SERVICE 1 of 1 Opinion Page Feature Article DENR's Cimatu wants Boracay rehab program extended for another year Published March 19, 2021 4:34pm BORACAY ISLAND, Aklan —Department of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Roy Cimatu said Friday that he is planning to ask President Rodrigo Duterte to extend the Boracay Island rehabilitation program for another year. Citing delays in rehabilitation work due to the COVID-19 restrictions, he said he wants to double down on the rehabilitation efforts as several things still need to be done to complete the island resort's restoration. Cimatu pointed out that rehabilitation efforts have suffered so much delay due to the pandemic. EDNR's top man was on Boracay Island to lead the meeting on the continuation of Boracay rehabilitation activities. He said that the Boracay rehabilitation task force is supposed to end its term this coming May, with still a lot of things to be completed. Among the projects that Cimatu wants to do is to build housing units in Malay for workers in Boracay. Also, he said he is planning to clear the island of illegal settlers. In 2018, President Duterte, in Proclamation No. 475, ordered the temporary closure of the world-famous island resort due to pollution. In one of his speeches in 2018, Duterte even called Boracay, along with Manila Bay, as a "cesspool." On 26 April 2018, Boracay was closed for a six-month rehabilitation project. And on 26 October 2018, it reopened to foreign and local tourists. But the planned rehabilitation efforts were to continue until the end of 2019, months before strict lockdowns were imposed in mid-March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. —with Jun N. Aguirre/LBG, GMA News Source: https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/regions/780381/denr-s-cimatu-wants- boracay-rehab-program-extended-for-another-year/story/ Headline STRATEGIC March 20, 2021 COMMUNICATION & Editorial Date INITIATIVES Column SERVICE 1 of 1 Opinion Page Feature Article Boracay task force seeks 1-year extension By Rhodina Villanueva(Philstar.com) - March 20, 2021 - 12:00am MANILA, Philippines — The Boracay Inter-Agency Task Force (BIATF) has sought an extension of its term for another year pending the creation of a permanent body that will oversee the island’s sustainable development. Environment Secretary and BIATF chairman Roy Cimatu said the extension would allow the task force to complete its projects that have been stalled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Cimatu said a BIATF resolution seeking the extension was submitted to President Duterte for his approval. The task force, which is co-chaired by the Departments of Tourism and the Interior and Local Government, was created under Executive Order 53 issued on May 8, 2018, the term of which was supposed to end in 2020. On May 11 last year, the President issued EO 115 extending the term of the BIATF until May 8 this year. “We have been hoping that all the good work we have done in Boracay would be continued and sustained by a more permanent body,” Cimatu said during a recent meeting of the task force. The bill creating the Boracay Island Development Authority (BIDA) is pending at the House of Representatives. The BIATF submitted its position paper explaining its preference for its proposed bill over seven other versions submitted to the legislative chamber. Cimatu said the BIDA should take over the current functions of the task force, noting that the limited carrying capacity of Boracay “does not leave space for further development that envisions enterprise and business that may adversely impact the island and its ecosystems.” Source: https://www.philstar.com/nation/2021/03/20/2085621/boracay-task-force-seeks-1-year- extension/amp/ Headline STRATEGIC March 20, 2021 COMMUNICATION & Editorial Date INITIATIVES Column SERVICE 1 of 1 Opinion Page Feature Article Boracay task force eyes one-year term extension Published 4 hours ago on March 20, 2021 02:30 AM By TDT @tribunephl Pending the creation of a permanent regulatory body that oversee Boracay Island’s sustainable development and balanced growth, the Boracay Inter-Agency Task Force (BIATF) on Friday proposed a one-year term extension. In a statement, Department of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary and BIATF chair Roy Cimatu said that the term extension will allow the task force to complete all its projects that have been stalled by the pandemic. A resolution signed by the BIATF has been submitted to President Rodrigo Duterte for his approval to extend the term of the task force for another year. To recall, the task force — co-chaired by the Department of Tourism and the Department of the Interior and Local Government — was created on 8 May, 2018 under Executive Order (EO) 53. The task force’s term was supposed to end in 2020, two years after its creation, but the President issued EO 115 on 11 May 2020, extending the term of the BIATF until 8 May 2021. “We have been hoping that all the good work we have done in Boracay would be continued and sustained by a more permanent body,” Cimatu said. “We have accomplished much since this body was created by our President with the mission of ensuring the rehabilitation and ecological sustainability of Boracay Island after its degeneration into a cesspool as a result of a few decades of runaway and haphazard development,” he added. Source: https://tribune.net.ph/index.php/2021/03/20/boracay-task-force-eyes-one-year-term- extension/ Headline STRATEGIC March 20, 2021 COMMUNICATION & Editorial Date INITIATIVES Column SERVICE 1 of 2 Opinion Page Feature Article Boracay task force seeks one-year extension March 19, 20213 min read ILOILO CITY – The Boracay Inter-Agency Task Force (BIATF) is seeking a one-year extension of its term in the absence of a bill creating the Boracay Island Development Authority (BIDA), which is still pending in Congress. “We unanimously endorse this proposal, the extension of the term for the task force for another one year,” Environment Secretary and task force chair Roy Cimatu said in a virtual press conference on Thursday afternoon. The BIATF was created under Executive Order (EO) 53 and signed by President Rodrigo Duterte in 2018 with a term of two years. It was amended through EO 115 extending their term until April this year. The document seeking another extension has been submitted to the Office of the President, Cimatu added. Meantime, Cimatu said the task force stands by its proposal for the BIDA to serve as a regulatory body rather than a government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC). “Whatever is the BIDA, it should be environmental oriented,” he said. Aklan Governor Florencio T. Miraflores also thanked Cimatu for seeking the extension. “Also for supporting our position in the province that if there is a more permanent body to supervise the operations to protect the island, an authority that should only be a regulatory body. We oppose the proposal that the authority should be a government-owned and controlled corporation,” the governor said. As a GOCC, he added, BIDA will violate lot of provisions of the Constitution and the local government code and it “goes against the thrust of the national government for more local autonomy”. Local government officials oppose the latest version of the BIDA bill that seeks to create a body that will govern Boracay Island. Headline STRATEGIC March 20, 2021 COMMUNICATION & Editorial Date INITIATIVES Column SERVICE 2 of 2 Opinion Page Feature Article Local government officials oppose the latest version of the BIDA bill that seeks to create a body that will govern Boracay Island. Miraflores hoped that Congress would listen to them, as he added that “they all have the good intentions”. He said that they support for the task force to “continue its life in the meantime that a regulatory body is still pending in Congress”. Cimatu said the rehabilitation of Boracay was not completed this year as per their target due to the pandemic and other disturbances in their time frame. Among those needing to be done is the relocation of informal settlers occupying the timberland that was deferred as a “gesture of humanitarian consideration” due to the pandemic and the transfer of workers in Boracay to the mainland to decongest the island and increase its carrying capacity. However, the accomplishment for road projects was pegged at 70 percent while the compliance to the required beach easement was at 80 percent. (PNA) Source: https://maharlika.tv/2021/03/19/boracay-task-force-seeks-one-year- extension/?fbclid=IwAR39HPNRBxqoncTXvQEHcFfOZWa554C3Mt3OaXNj8VDAnb- 7fy4RKivydyo Headline STRATEGIC March 20, 2021 COMMUNICATION & Editorial Date INITIATIVES Column SERVICE 1 of 1 Opinion Page Feature Article DENR seeks extension of Boracay task force for another year March 19, 2021 | 7:03 pm PHILSTAR THE Environment department has asked President Rodrigo R. Duterte to extend the term of the Boracay Inter-Agency Task Force (BIATF) for one more year. In a press release on Friday, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources said the BIATF submitted a signed resolution to the President asking for the extension. Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu, who chairs the BIATF, said the term extension will “allow the task force to complete all its projects which were stalled due to the global health emergency.” The BIATF was created on May 8, 2018, under Executive Order (EO) No. 53 to lead the rehabilitation of the popular tourist island that Mr. Duterte described to have turned into a “cesspool.” Boracay was closed to tourists for six months. The term of the task force was originally set to end in 2020, but Mr.