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Foreign tourists are required to pay an environmental fee of 300 pesos, while domestic tourists are required to pay 100 pesos. The terminal fee is 100 pesos per person.
Boracay Island, Philippines – Malaya Local Government BoracaySaturday, August 17th.
In a phone interview, Mayor Floribal Bautista said the Boracay Tourism Board has issued Executive Order No. 32 requiring tourists passing through Tabang to enter the island through the Boracay app or through Electronic Boracay.
Foreign tourists are required to pay an environmental fee of 300 pesos, while domestic tourists are required to pay 100 pesos. Terminal fees are 100 pesos per person. Residents with Aklan ID cards are exempt from these fees.
“This mandatory payment, which takes effect immediately, is part of our broader plan to establish a unified ticketing system for Boracay to facilitate travel,” Bautista said.
But the rollout of the new system is currently facing some problems, including the inability of the app to be used by iOS users.
On April 2 this year, the Boracay-Caticlan Sustainable Development Council discussed plans to implement a unified ticketing system.
Part of the unified ticketing system plan also includes consolidating the purchase of boat tickets, which are sold at P50 each. Currently, the payment of Caticlan terminal and environmental fees is done manually, and tourists have to wait in long queues.
Consultation confusion
The launch of the new system coincided with the announcement of port changes by the Philippine Coast Guard, further adding to the confusion.
In June, as the fishing season began for fishermen, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) shifted boat operations from Caticlan Port to Cagban Port and then to Tapo-Tambisaan Port.
But on August 17, the mayor said they received complaints from tourists because the Philippine Coast Guard unexpectedly announced that the transfer point that day would be at Caticlan Port instead of Tapo Port.
“In coordination with the provincial government, the local government unit of Malay and the Caticlan-Boracay Transport Multipurpose Cooperative, it is hereby notified that the motorboat route from Tabang Port to Tambisaan Port and vice versa will be changed to the Caticlan-Cagban Pier route, effective 6 a.m. on August 17 until further notice,” Coast Guard Lt. John Lawrence Banzuela said, citing the weather forecast from the Philippine Atmospheric and Atmospheric Administration.
The Pacific Coast Guard issued the advisory at 10 p.m. on Friday, August 16.
Banzuela is the commander of the Coast Guard Station in Aklan.
Mayor Bautista said they “did not anticipate the warning from the Pacific Coast Guard.”
“Nevertheless, we want the public to know that if ship operations are transferred to Tabeng Port, environmental fees and wharfage charges will be paid online, (and) some Malay staff will be stationed in the area to assist,” Bautista added.
The port transfer has created confusion in the implementation of the unified app-based ticketing scheme as there is no order requiring payments at the Caticlan port through the new ticketing system.
“I will soon issue another executive order mandating the payment of environmental fees and terminal fees at the Caticlan terminal to complete the unified ticketing system phase,” Bautista added. – Rappler.com
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