Netizens question presence of actress in Boracay despite shutdown

SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS Actress Alice Dixson posts her photos and video footage of her Boracay stay in her Instagram account. “Wonder what it looks like during the closure? Here it ’tis,” the post read.

ILOILO CITY — Actress Alice Dixson had good rollicking fun on her 49th birthday on Saturday, posting videos of herself dancing in a pink top and walking around Station 3 of Boracay Island.

Some residents and netizens alike, however, were not amused, wondering how the celebrity managed to get into Boracay’s famed beaches that are off-limits to tourists and visitors for six months until Oct. 26.

“Is this a case of favoritism?” a netizen rued in Filipino.

An official, however, was quick to offer an explanation: Dixson is a card-carrying resident of the island.

Yapak resident

“Per info from field and security group, she was able to present an ID signed by the barangay captain (certifying) that Ms Alice Dixson is a resident of Barangay Yapak,” Local Government Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III said in a statement to the Inquirer.

Sources in Boracay said Dixson’s partner was an official of Crimson Resort and Spa Boracay, one of the high-end resorts in Yapak.

Hector Casidsid, former chair of Yapak, also confirmed that the actress — who has made a comeback after yearslong hiatus from show business — was a resident.

Dixson is one of the stars in the popular TV series “Ang Probinsyano.”

Her video and photographs on the beach of Boracay set off a fresh furor among residents and netizens over whether the government was serious about the island’s shutdown to tourists and visitors.

Only residents, accredited journalists and personnel overseeing its rehabilitation are allowed on the island.

Special permission, however, is granted to relatives of residents in emergency cases and for activities approved by the interagency Boracay Security Committee (BSC).

In some instances, exceptions have been made to the rules since the island was closed on April 26.

Humanitarian mission

On the same day Dixson soaked up the sun, sand and sea, the BSC barred anew a humanitarian mission from the island.

Eighteen members of We Are Boracay and Rise Up Aklan, including a teacher and students from Iloilo Science and Technology University, had planned to distribute 38 sacks of rice to 700 families financially dislocated by the shutdown, but were rebuffed.

In denying their request, Anthony Nuyda, regional director of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, cited protocols that nonresidents and unregistered workers seeking entry to the island should submit a formal request three days before the event.

The protocol was presented to the Boracay Interagency Task Force on July 27 while the letters requesting permission to hold the mission were received by the BSC on July 26.

The local government of Malay in Aklan, a member of the BSC, approved the holding of the mission.

The BSC’s denial of the request forced 50 Boracay residents to cross to the Malay mainland to receive the sacks of rice on behalf of other beneficiaries. They shelled out P50 for the boat that took them from the island to the mainland and back.

‘Double standard’

The groups decried the “selective and double-standard” enforcement of rules.

“They are resorting to all excuses to deny us entry because of our critical position on the closure of the island and vocal criticism on the failure of the government to prepare for and address the social and economic impact of the closure to tens of thousands of residents especially small business operators and workers in both the formal and informal sector,” said Kim-Sin Tugna, coordinator of Rise Up Aklan.

On July 4, security personnel allowed 21 European guests to visit the island and the Ati community, and swim on the main beach despite rules allowing only residents to swim in selected areas from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

This violated protocols and merited an investigation, officials said earlier. —WITH A REPORT FROM KATE MATRIANO