Boracay establishments ordered to set up sewage treatment plants

Hundreds of hotels and other big establishments along Boracay’s famed white beach have been ordered to treat at source and to set up their own sewage treatment plants (STPs) as the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) starts decommissioning an illegal sewage pipeline near the shoreline.

In a speech during the Boracay Water Quality Management Area (WQMA) workshop over the weekend, Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu said DENR was enforcing Presidential Directive 2018-0081 requiring all resorts to have wastewater treatment facilities.

Under a DENR draft circular, all resorts and similar establishments located along Boracay’s white/long beach with 50 rooms or more are required to have individual STPs, while those with 49 rooms and below can have clustered STPs or separate treatment plants.

Those who fail to comply will be issued notices of violation or cease and desist orders.

Cimatu also ordered the island’s two water suppliers—Boracay Island Water Company and Boracay Tubi Systems—to expand the capacity of their respective sewerage treatment plants to help solve the island’s sewage woes.