Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 22) — A group taking charge of rehabilitating Boracay has shut down 10 establishments in the island owned by Chinese and Korean nationals after they were discovered operating without permits.
In a statement, the Boracay Inter-agency Task Force said they have ordered the closure of the following business:
1. Bella’s Bar and Restaurant
2. Old Captain Cuisine
3. Ken Minimart
4. Ken St.
5. Island Staff Restaurant
6. Coco Spa
7. Kim Ji Man
8. W Hostel Boracay Dragon
9. VIP Souvenir Shop
10. and YH World Network Service, Inc.
The crackdown on these foreign-owned stores came from Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu, amid reports that some restaurants cater exclusively to Chinese tourists with their signage and menu written only in Chinese characters.
Chinese visitors were found to be the top violators of local ordinances in Boracay as of April, according to the Boracay Tourism Regulatory Enforcement Unit. Chinese nationals listed 739 violations during the first four months of the year, followed by Koreans with 277 reported misdeeds.
To add, the agency said it was in response to the increasing number of Chinese and Korean nationals working as tour guides, restaurant chefs and staff in the popular tourist destination, even without valid working permits and visa.
The task force served the closure orders to these establishments with the help of the local government of Malay, Aklan on Tuesday, after conducting inspections from May 7-9.
Natividad Bernardino, Boracay Inter-Agency Rehabilitation Group general manager, said there are 49 stores in the island with foreign business names placed on their signages. Apart from the 10 which have been shuttered, 14 other establishments had incomplete requirements from the local government and from the Bureau of Fire Protection.
“We cannot allow flagrant violation by foreign nationals of our country’s laws and regulations, especially in the island which we have painstakingly rehabilitated,” Interior Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III said in a statement.
In April, Densing said several state agencies are looking into reports from Malay residents about Chinese-only restaurants in Boracay, which comes a year after the six-month shutdown of the island for a massive clean-up as ordered by President Rodrigo Duterte.
Reports of Chinese-only restaurants have also sprouted in Metro Manila, with Malacañang saying this practice is illegal and discriminatory to Filipinos.
