2018 Boracay closure and redevelopment for media coverage. On April 4, 2018, the Philippine government announced that Boracay would be closed for up to six months starting on April 26. Checkpoints manned by police officers and soldiers would be set up at piers in Boracay to turn away visitors from the island. Passes would be given to local residents. On the day of the closure, President Rodrigo Duterte declared a state of calamity over the three barangays of Boracay. The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has distributed relief goods to residents of Boracay while the island is closed to tourists. In June 2018,
Boracay Water namely Manoc-Manoc, Balabag, and Yapak, including the commercial districts popularly known as Stations 1, 2 and 3. Boracay Water was granted the exclusive right to operate, manage, and expand water and used water facilities for a period of 25 years, renewable for another 25 years. The company was also granted the right to operate and maintain the existing drainage system upon its completion. It assumed operations on January 1, 2010 and began rehabilitating the island’s water and used water infrastructure, to contribute to a sustainable environment and to the economic development of the island. It helps in keeping the island’s