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 a warning in October 19 to local government units based in 5 major tourist destinations to follow environmental laws, namely El Nido in Palawan, Panglao in Bohol, Oslob in Cebu, La Union, and Baguio. On May 30, 2018, President Duterte declared that he planned to make the entire Island of Boracay a land reform area and wanted to prioritize Boracay's first inhabitants. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources conducted a study which concludes that the ideal number of people Boracay island can accommodate is 60,000 people. At that given population it is estimated that the island could produce nine