Threatens to charge those opposing Boracay rehab plan
(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday said he would place Boracay under a state of calamity, threatening to charge those preventing the government from restoring the world-famous island into its “pristine state.”
Duterte said he would declare the state of calamity as proposed by the Department of the Interior and Local Government.
“Kung ayaw nila mag-cooperate and they begin to protest, kayo naman ang may kasalanan diyan, you were responsible for the damage all these years, pati ‘yung mga local officials who were all nonchalant of the problem there, aarestuhin ko kayong lahat. And if you put up a fight then I’ll charge you for sedition (for) preventing government to do what is good for the Filipino people,” he said.
According to Article 139 of the Revised Penal Code, those who rise “publicly and tumultuously” to, among others, prevent the government from “freely exercising its or his functions, or prevent the execution of any administrative order” commit sedition.
The President said a Boracay cleanup was completely necessary and of paramount interest, as “time will come when it is so polluted it can no longer be of use for the next generations” if nothing was done.
“In the meantime, if I were from Boracay or you guys there, the best thing for you to do is to cooperate with government and hasten the clean-up. For as long as there are s*** coming out of those pipes draining to the sea, I will never give you the time of the day na bumalik diyan,” he said.
President Duterte has described the world-famous island as a “cesspool.”
He has given several departments six months to rehabilitate the island.
