MANILA - President Rodrigo Duterte will soon sign written orders for the closure of Boracay, even as the 6-month shutdown of the popular tourist destination already started Thursday.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the relevant documents, including the declaration of a state of calamity on the island, are now on the President’s desk.

He explained there had been delays in the crafting of the documents on the part of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).

“All relevant proclamations had been received. There were some delays from NDRRMC but I was assured, it will be signed by the President in due course,” Roque said in a Palace press briefing.

A proclamation of a state of calamity will allow the faster release of funds needed for infrastructure work on the island, now closed to tourists to give way to cleanup and rehabilitation.

The government is also eyeing to release some P2 billion to assist workers displaced by the island’s half-year shutdown.

Despite the absence of a formal document on the island’s shutdown, Boracay workers went to the Supreme Court on Wednesday to ask that the closure be stopped.

• Boracay workers challenge island closure at Supreme Court

Duterte earlier described the top tourist destination as a “cesspool,” citing the untreated wastewater that hotels and establishments on the island supposedly dump into the open sea.

• Duterte slams Boracay as ‘cesspool,’ threatens to shut down island

The government aims to improve the island’s sewerage system and road networks, eliminate the accumulation of solid waste, remove structures violating the shore easement rules, and recover the island’s wetlands, during the 6-month shutdown.

Businesses on the island have been bracing for the closure, as they are set to lose billions in earnings and leave jobless the island’s estimated 30,000 workers from both the formal and informal sectors.

The island’s closure is also expected to hit the economy of Aklan province, as large amounts of produce and meat products being brought to Boracay usually come from the mainland.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia, meanwhile, said Boracay’s closure may result in the reduction of the country’s gross domestic product by P1.96 billion.