THE Supreme Court (SC), in its en banc session on Feb. 12, ruled that the six-month closure of Boracay Island last year is constitutional. New SC Public Information Office Chief Brian Keith F. Hosaka said the court, voting, 11-2, dismissed the petition against Proclamation No. 475, which declared a state of calamity in Boracay Island and ordered its temporary closure from April 26 to Oct. 25, 2018, ruling that it “did not pose an actual impairment to the right to travel.” “The impact of the said proclamation on the right to travel was temporary and merely incidental to the intended rehabilitation of the island,” Mr. Hosaka said. “The Court also ruled that Proclamation No. 475 was a valid police power measure.” In April 2018, Boracay workers and residents, through the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL), asked the SC to issue a temporary restraining order against the tourist island’s closure. Those who voted to dismiss the petition are: Chief Justice Lucas P. Bersamin and associate justices Antonio T. Carpio, Diosdado M. Peralta, Mariano C. Del Castillo, Estelas M. Perla-Bernabe, Francis H. Jardaleza Andres B. Reyes, Jr., Alexander G. Gesmundo, Jose C. Reyes, Jr., Ramon Paul L. Hernando and Rosmari D. Carandang. The justices who voted to grant the petition are Associate Justices Marvic Mario Victor F. Leonen and Alfredo Benjamin S. Caguioa. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas
