Authorities may ban nudity and wearing a skimpy outfit in the public areas of Boracay Island.
Malay municipal council in Aklan was contemplating over amending the city ordinances to include a ban on public nudity in the province, including Boracay Island. Boracay recently reclaimed its No. 1 spot on the Top Islands in Asia list of the Condé Nast Traveler (CNT) 2019 Readers’ Choice Awards.
“We will be discussing possible measures, but among those is to amend existing ordinances or pass a new one,” Councilor Maylyn Aguirre-Graf told the Inquirer on Monday.
The municipal’s action was prompted by an incident wherein a Taiwanese tourist wears just a ‘string’ in Boracay last week.
However, the tourist told the police that she found nothing wrong with her “just a string” bikini saying it is her “form of expression and of feeling comfortable with her body.”
According to the police, the tourist who wore a dress at the police station also said that is what she usually wears in Taiwan.
The tourist was given a citation ticket and needed to pay P2,500 fine for violating a 2013 ordinance, which prohibits taking and displaying “lewd” photographs.
According to residents, the said ordinance covers only photographers and not tourists.
The Taiwanese tourist could have been fined for alarm and scandal under the Revised Penal Code.