History
[edit]
Pre-colonial period[edit]
Before the Spanish colonization of the Philippines in the 16th century, Boracay was populated by Ati people. It was known to the Iberians as Buracay. At the time of contact with the Europeans, Buracay had a population of one hundred people, who cultivated rice on the island and augmented their income by raising goats.
The Tumandok people also established an indigenous presence on the island,[better source needed] although the identities of the two indigenous peoples is often conflated.[citation needed] A 1905 report by the Philippine Commission documented the continuing presence of both groups on the island. referred to there as "Buracay".
Archeological-wise and Historiographical-wise Boracay island was at the cross-roads of maritime shipping between the rival Philippine Port-Kingdoms of the Kedatuan of Madja-as (ᜋᜇ᜔ᜌ᜵ ᜀᜐ᜔), the nation of Sandao (三洲), and Buddhist Ma-i (ᜫᜡ), which most likely made Boracay a lively naval route, trading spot, but also battlefield among the three kingdoms.
The Kedatuan of Madja-as including the datus of Capiz and Aklan where Boracay neighbors, often raided Luzon and Mindoro in the north; the locations of the kingdoms of Tondo and Ma-i that there is an old Visayan saying: “sa diin timo nangayaw nga mait” which translates as “did you raid (pangayaw) up north (mait)?” but actually means “where have you been?”, as a memory of Panay raids against the kingdoms of Mindoro and Luzon.
Contemporary period[edit]
As an agricultural island[edit]
Boracay, as well as the rest of Aklan, was previously part of the province of Capiz. It was under the jurisdiction of the municipality of Buruanga itself ruling over the town of Ibajay which was the intermediary for Buracay (Historical spelling of Boracay) and its surroundings at Northwestern Panay island. The 1818 census shows that there were 1,268 native families and also a relatively decent number of 30 Spanish-Filipino families that also lived in Ibajay, Malay and also Boracay.: 606  Buruanga continue to preside over Boracay until the municipality of Malay was established on June 15, 1949. The municipality, as well as the island, became part of Aklan, which became an independent province on April 25, 1956.
Before the advent of tourism, Boracay was largely an agricultural community. Around 1910, Sofía Gonzáles Tirol and her husband Lamberto Hontiveros Tirol (a town judge on the Panay mainland) took ownership of substantial properties on the island. They planted coconuts, fruit trees and greenery. Others followed the Tirols, and cultivation and development of the island gradually spread. The production of copra and fishing were major industries in the island.
Boracay in the 1970s, during the decline of its fishing industry, before it shifted to tourism as a source of income.
However, due to overharvesting by fishers and the destruction of coral reefs due to cyanide fishing, the fishing industry saw a decline. By the 1980s, the price of copra had declined, encouraging tourism as an alternative source of income for the island.
Displacement of the Ati minority to reduce hunger in Boracay[edit]
Main article: Ati people
On Nov. 10, 1978, six years after the declaration of Martial Law under Ferdinand Marcos, 65 Philippine islands including Boracay was declared "tourist zones and marine reserves" without any mention of the status of the Ati who were the original residents of the island. This de facto dispossession of Ati lands on Boracay by Marcos placed the islands under the control of the Philippine Tourism Authority, and marked the beginning of rapid development on the island. In turn, this resulted in the further marginalization of the Boracay Ati for decades.
Influx of tourism (1970s to 1997)[edit]
Tourists in Boracay, 1985
Tourism came to the island beginning sometime in the 1970s. In 1970, the movies Nam's Angels (released in the U.S. as The Losers) and Too Late the Hero used filming locations on Boracay and Caticlan. There was an influx of Western tourists after German writer Jens Peter called it "paradise on Earth" in his book about the Philippines in 1978. In the 1980s, the island became popular as a budget destination for backpackers. By the 1990s, Boracay's beaches were being acclaimed as the best in the world. However, in 1997, tourist arrivals to the resort island dropped 60 percent due to the increase of coliform bacteria from poor sewage and septic systems on the island.
1997 to 2018[edit]
View of Boracay from Mount Luho, October 2012
The condition of Boracay in 1997 led to the installment of a potable water supply system, a sewage treatment plant and a solid waste disposal system, operated by the Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA). The connection of businesses and households to the system was not universal, and environmental problems persisted.
Then-president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declared Boracay a Special Tourism Zone in 2005, and in April 2006 she gave the PTA administrative control over the island while mandating the agency to coordinate with the provincial government of Aklan.
In 2012, the Philippine Department of Tourism reported that Boracay had been named the world's second best beach after Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
2018 closure and rehabilitation[edit]
Main article: 2018 Boracay closure and redevelopment
Cleanup of Boracay in 2018
Due to worsening environmental conditions in Boracay, President Rodrigo Duterte in February 2018 said he planned to close the resort island, which he described as a "cesspool", on April 26, 2018, instructing Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Roy Cimatu to resolve the issue. In a cabinet meeting, President Duterte approved the full closure of the island for six months, effective April 26, 2018, to rehabilitate and resolve the environmental issues surrounding Boracay. On May 30, 2018, President Duterte declared that he planned to make the entire Boracay a land reform area and wanted to first prioritize the island's residents.
In April 2018, the Philippine Army's 301st Infantry Brigade confirmed that 200 soldiers were deployed to Boracay to secure the island during its shutdown starting April 26.
On October 26, 2018, Boracay was reopened to the public with work on the island's infrastructure still in progress. In April 2019, numerous Chinese-owned businesses were opened in Boracay, and additionally, there are about 300 mainland Chinese residents. In April 2019, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said that the Department of Labor and Employment has no control over foreign businesses setting up shop on the island, but that it vows to ensure that no Chinese national could take jobs fit for Filipinos.
Efforts to maintain the pristine condition of the beaches and the introduction of environmentally-friendly practices such as the use of biodegradable products and electric tricycles have significantly contributed to the island's recovery. The absence of plastic and a renewed focus on sustainability were key highlights of introduced in 2023.
Following the Boracay cleanup, Duterte distributed 623 certificates of land-ownership awards covering 274 hectares (680 acres) of land in Boracay and Aklan to the area's Ati inhabitants and other beneficiaries.
2020 COVID-19 pandemic[edit]
The municipality of Malay, including Boracay island, was closed to tourism effective March 19, 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The island would eventually be re-opened to tourists with COVID-19 protocols implemented as a cautionary measure.
Revocation of Ati Families’ CLOA and The Land Allocation for Displaced Ati in Boracay[edit]
Ati Community in Ati Village, Boracay June 2025
Under the Bongbong Marcos administration in late March 2024, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), upon the request of private land developers, cancelled the Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOA) of five lots in Boracay owned by Ati indigenous peoples. The lots, which were awarded by the Duterte administration to the Ati members in 2018, had been barricaded by armed men, who cited a March 5, 2024 decision by the DAR concluding that the land awarded was "not suitable for agriculture". The Boracay Ati Tribal Organization (BATO) later urged the Commission on Human Rights to intervene in the dispute, leading DAR Secretary Conrado Estrella III to order the distribution of land to the affected Ati members, albeit to a yet undisclosed location.
