Volume 20
KALIBO, Aklan – The Island of Boracay, in Malay, Aklan received a total of 113,596 tourists in December 2021, according to the Malay Municipal Tourism Office. Based on the record of the local tourism office, the said figure is so far the highest number of arrivals of tourists in Boracay since January 2020 when coronavirus pandemic struck the country. Before the pandemic, the island was able to welcome 4,000 to 6,000 visitors daily. According to Malay tourism officer Felix delos Santos, the increase in tourist arrivals in December was mainly due to the long holidays, wherein tourists celebrated the Christmas and New Year’s Day in the island. Majority of the visitors of the island last month came from the National Capital Region with 49,185 arrivals or 43% of the total arrivals. It was followed by the local tourists from Western Visayas with 30,347 arrivals; CALABARZON with 19,161 arrivals; Central Luzon 8,139; and Central
Mayor Emerson Lachica of Kalibo opted to cancel streetdancing and other major activities for this year's Kalibo Sto. Nino Ati-atihan Festival because these are crowd drawers and might cause further spread of COVID-19 in Kalibo and in Aklan in general.
Issue 01
January 1 - 15, 2022
Visayas with 1,319. Tourists who had spent their vacation in Boracay in the whole month of December were mostly 13-59 years old with 93,685; while ages 0-12 years old were 16,280; and 3,631 were ages 60 and up. Meanwhile, with the surge of COVID19 cases in NCR and the threat of Omicron variant in the country, the Provincial Government of Aklan issued
Tourists walk barefooted on a stretch of White Beach in Boracay Island in Malay, Aklan. The Island received a total of 113,596 tourists in December 2021, according to the Malay Municipal Tourism Office. The said figure is so far the highest number of arrivals of tourists in Boracay since January 2020 when coronavirus pandemic struck the country. (SQP-PIA Aklan/Photo courtesy of Malay MuniciContinued on page… 02 pal Tourism Office)
KALIBO, Aklan (PIA) -Starting January 9, 2022, tourists bound for Boracay Island and returning Aklanons as well as travelers just passing through Aklan will be required again to submit a negative RT-PCR test result. This requirement is imposed by the
Kalibo, the capital town of Aklan, is still celebrating its world-famous KaliboSto. Nino Ati-atihan Festival this year, but it will do away with street dancing or “Sadsad” to avoid the spread of COVID-19. Dubbed as the “Mother of All Philippine Festivals”, the celebration this third week of January 2022 will focus on other Ati-atihan-related activities instead, with some already conducted in the earlier days of the month. Aside from the “Sadsad”, officials of Continued on page… 02
Provincial Government of Aklan based on Executive Order No. 001, series of 2022, issued by Governor Florencio T. Miraflores on January 5, 2022. E.O. 001 is an order providing guidelines on the implementation of restrictions on the movement of persons in and out of the province of Aklan as well as protocols to be observed under the Alert Level System for COVID-19 Response. Tourists, returning Aklanons and travelers passing through must submit their negative RT-PCR test result certificate (saliva, nasopharygeal or oropharyngeal) with date of extraction within 72 hours to date of travel. Tourists and travelers must secure a “Quick Response” Code via the Online Health Declaration Card that can be a c c e s s e d a t h t t p s : / / www.touristboracay.com/ or https:// aklan.gov.ph. For returning Aklanons, on top of the Negative RT-PCR test result, they are again required to obtain a Notice of Coordination/Acceptance from the Municipality of destination issued by the Office of the Mayor, screenshot of the Continued on page… 02