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,
2018 Boracay closure and redevelopment resolve the worsening sewage conditions there. Duterte has directed Environment secretary Roy Cimatu to resolve the environmental issues in the island. Boracay is part of the jurisdiction of the town of Malay of Aklan province. Three of Malay's barangays are in Boracay. According to the Western Visayas regional office of the Department of Tourism, Boracay had two million tourists in 2017 which accounts for 34 percent of Western Visayas' 5.8 million tourist arrivals. At least 19,031 are employed to work on the island. Waters along the beaches of Boracay have experienced algal bloom which environmentalists and some long-time residents claim