Philippines to close Boracay island to tourists for six months

The Philippines is closing its best-known holiday island Boracay to tourists for up to six months over concerns that the once idyllic white-sand resort has become a "cesspool" tainted by dumped sewage, authorities said on Thursday. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the shutdown to start on April 26 for a maximum period of half a year, his spokesman Harry Roque said. "Boracay is known as a paradise in our nation and this temporary closure is (meant) to ensure that the next generations will also experience that," Roque told reporters.

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