Senator Joel Villanueva on Thursday criticized the reported recent entry of Chinese tourists in tourist destination Boracay in the Visayas region, despite the ban issued by President Rodrigo Duterte on mainland China and its administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau due to the outbreak of the deadly 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).

“Allowing tourists from China, particularly Wuhan, to arrive in Boracay is irresponsible,” said Villanueva in a statement.

“It is irresponsible to disregard the ban for profit,” Villanueva added.

Villanueva said the said incident exposes workers, other tourists and residents at risk.

It strains the limited resources of the Philippines, particularly the country’s capacity to respond to public health emergency.

“We need all hands on deck. We have a serious health crisis. We expect the cooperation of everyone to implement the ban,” Villanueva said.

The continuous arrival of tourists from China contradicts the necessary precautions the country has to take given the situation, he said.

“We need everyone to cooperate so we can prevent the spread of the disease and limit the exposure of the public. Let’s follow the ban,” he said.

Chinese tourists are still arriving on Boracay Island even after Duterte on Sunday issued an order barring tourists from mainland China and its administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau to help prevent the spread of the 2019-nCoV.

The municipal government of Malay in Aklan province, which has jurisdiction over the resort island, said it was monitoring 429 Chinese who do not have symptoms of infection but have been to China within 14 days before they entered the Philippines./Stacy Ang