The  Supreme Court (SC)  has stopped the Aklan provincial government from implementing its P1-billion reclamation project covering 40 hectares of the coastline of Boracay Island, until it has addressed legal and environmental concerns.
In a 65-page decision by Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, the high tribunal ordered the provincial government and its contractors to immediately “cease and desist” from continuing the implementation of the Phase 1 of the project covering 2.64 hectares of foreshore area in Caticlan, Malay, Aklan.
The Boracay Foundation Inc. (BFI),  an association of  resort owners, petitioned the high court and questioned Aklan’s reclamation project in and around Boracay.
The petitioners’ lawyers, Harry  Roque and Joel Butuyan, said “the ruling will protect the best beach on earth and the country’s tourism crown jewel.”
The SC issued a temporary protection order (Tepo) last year preventing Aklan from continuing with  the 2.6-ha. first phase of the project in Caticlan, which is the jump-off point to the island. The foundation’s  petition argued that no prior exhaustive scientific studies have determined the effect of the reclamation project on the island’s famed powdery white sand beach, corals and marine life.
The project includes the rehabilitation and expansion of the jetty port and the passenger terminal and the establishment of a commercial building and wellness center which would cost P260 million.
The SC also agreed to covert the Tepo it issued last year into a writ of continuing mandamus.
It directed the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Environmental Management Bureau (DENR-EMB) Regional Office VI to revisit and review its classification of the reclamation project as a single instead of a co-located project; its approval of the provincial government’s classification of the project as a mere expansion of the existing jetty port in Caticlan, instead of classifying it as a new project; and its impact to the environment based on new, updated and comprehensive studies to be undertaken by the DENR-EMB Region VI.
The SC ordered the Aklan government to conduct proper consultations with non-government organizations and other stakeholders and concerned  sectors and to secure the necessary clearances from local government units (LGUs) to be affected by the reclamation project.
The provincial government was tasked to cooperate with the DENR-EMB  in its review of the reclamation project and to submit its appropriate report to the department.