The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) today said it will look into the reported 30-minute swimming activity of some 21 delegates of Genfest International in Boracay.

“We just learned about this through a news report from GMA 7. We assure you that we will look into this, and determine if there’s any breach on the protocol set by the Boracay Inter-agency Task Force,” DENR Undersecretary and Deputy spokesperson Benny Antiporda said.

Based on the news report, it was the Aklan provincial police who allowed the European delegates to swim for half an hour in Boracay’s white beach in Station 1 at the request of the festival organizers, and after undergoing a tight screening.

Antiporda stressed that based on guidelines of the inter-agency task force, swimming shall not be allowed anywhere in the island. However, he said, residents of Boracay may be allowed to swim but only in designated areas near Station 1 and in Angol beach in Station 3 at a particular time, from 6am to 5pm. ###