By Madelaine B. Miraflor As Boracay Island Water Company, Inc. (BIWC) forms part of its operations, Ayala-led Manila Water Company, Inc. (MWC) expects the upcoming six-month closure of Boracay Island to have an impact on its bottomline this year. To minimize the impact, the company created an “action plan” on how to improve the sewerage system in the "cesspool" that Boracay had turned into. Manila Water president and chief executive officer Ferdinand Dela Cruz said there will be "an expected drop" in the billed volume of Boracay Island Water Company, Inc. (Boracay Water) during the six-month closure of Boracay, which would start on April 26. As of now, 70 percent of Boracay Water's billed volume comes from tourist arrivals, while only 30 percent comes from the island's residents. "There will be impact on our financials. But we will still have customers to serve," Dela Cruz said on the sidelines of the company's annual stockholders meeting on Monday. "The 70 percent goes away. my own sense is it won't be as extreme as that because there would still be people on the island," he added. Through Boracay Water, Manila Water holds the exclusive right to operate, manage, and expand water and used water facilities in the island. Boracay Water is 80 percent owned by Manila Water and 20 percent owned by the government through Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA). Started in 2009, the Boracay Water concession will end in 2034. "Boracay has is a little over 142 million . If you project six months and make a hit there, could be anywhere half of that, or around 60 percent  to P70 percent," Dela Cruz said. "We are about P60 million to P70 million." Dela Cruz said this is something that can be offset through gains in the company's other businesses. "We are looking for ways to offset this. This is something not very, very big," he further said. Environment Chief Roy Cimatu said that as of now, around 40 percent of all establishments in Boracay are not yet compliant with Republic Act No. 9275 or the Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004. Virgilio Rivera, Manila Water's chief operation officer for new business operation, said while there is an existing business plan for Boracay Water, which has already been approved by TIEZA, the company was forced to craft an 'action plan' amid the pending closure of the island. According to him, the action plan, which will be implemented in the next six months, will require Boracay Water accelerate some components of its existing masterplan, such as addressing illegal connections and enhancement of sewerage system. Of its P2.4-billion capital expenditure (capex) budget — which will be rolled out within a five-year timeframe —  P677 million will be spent this year alone. Manila Water chief finance officer Luis Juan Oreta said that while "it's unfortunate that the company will have some reverses in Boracay," the investments that have to be made will make the situation in the island more sustainable. "We will recover from this," Oreta said, adding that overall, for the rest of the year, the company is "better than optimistic" about its operations. Dela Cruz said that Manila Water is now working with the government and establishment owners in Boracay to shorten the closure to four months.