ILOILO CITY – The Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Mines and Geosciences Bureau (DENR-MGB) has warned that world-famous Boracay Island could collapse after 815 sinkholes were discovered.
“There is danger if there is overcapacity. Only time will tell when structures will collapse,” warned Engr. Mae Magarzo, chief geologist of MGB in Western Visayas region.
Magarzo told the Manila Bulletin in a phone interview on Wednesday, Dec. 14, that the number of sinkholes at the country’s most popular beach destination in Malay town, Aklan province gradually increased in the past four years.
The MGB-6 found 789 sinkholes in three barangays during a hazard assessment in 2018, the year when the Duterte administration implemented massive rehabilitation and banned tourists in Boracay for six months.
By 2019, the number of sinkholes rose to 801. By 2022, these increased to 815.
Magarzo said that Boracay is susceptible to sinkholes since the ground is made mostly of limestone.
She added that sinkholes are very hard to predict as these suddenly happen and there are no prior indicators.
The MGB-6 Coastal Geohazard Map also found key areas in the resort-island that are susceptible to erosion.
“The main beach is already showing low erosion,” Magarzo said.
Magarzo is calling for the stronger implementation of Boracay’s carrying capacity.
In 2018, the government set a maximum of 19,215 tourists in the resort-island per day with only 6,405 new tourists allowed to enter.
The DENR has yet to release Boracay’s new carrying capacity which was supposed to have been released when the term of President Duterte ended last June 30.