The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) warned it will issue a show cause order against the local government of Boracay if they fail to control the entry of tourists in one of the Philippines' top tourist attractions.

During the ''Laging Handa'' public briefing, ndersecretary for Operations Epimaco Densing III said it issued a letter to Gov. Florencio Miraflores and Mayor Frolibar Bautista to remind them to make sure the entry of tourists in the island will not exceed its carrying capacity of 19,215.

"Otherwise it will have a negative effect on the environment of Boracay. The warning includes possible issuance of show cause orders for them to explain why they allow the entry of tourists that are beyond the carrying capacity of the Boracay Island," he said.

"If this (capacity) exceeds again and whether it is negligence or intentional, we will send them a letter to explain. Otherwise, they can be held administratively liable for exceeding the requirements of the government, particularly in the carrying capacity of Boracay Island," he added.

Densing said the number of tourists in Boracay has reached 22,000 during the Lenten season.

"The people flocked on April 13. I think 12,000 tourists entered which carried over on April 14 and 15, but because they already left on April 16. It went down from 22,000 to I think 18,000 on April 16," he said.

"As of today, the number of tourist arrivals in the island has already declined but we still remind them they should not allow the entry of more 6,000 to 7,000 arrivals daily so that it will not exceed the 19,000 carrying capacity," he added.

Densing said based on their monitoring, so far Boracay Island is the only tourist destination in the country where people are crowding.

"So far Boracay is the only tourism site where we monitor the crowds of people. All the rest of the tourist destinations in other areas in the country have an increased number of arrivals but it doesn't have the same situation where people are too close to each other," he said. Robina Asido/DMS