Palawan mulls ban on scantily clad tourists

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan — Tourists wearing beachwear consisting of narrow strips of clothing like T-back bikinis, thongs, and G-strings, may soon be banned from Palawan beaches.

Board Member Cherry Pie Acosta on Tuesday filed a measure that wants to prohibit visitors, both Filipinos and foreigners — from being scantily clad in all beach resorts and crowded places in the province.

“They will only be allowed if they are wearing tops to cover those T-backs and other skimpy swimming attires. They have to respect our culture. We are different, and when we are in their countries we also respect their culture,” she said.

Acosta said her filed resolution is related to another, which requests all municipal tourism offices in the province’s 23 towns to prohibit “the conduct of sexual acts along seashore areas” within Palawan

“It happened in my place in Barangay Port Barton, where you can interview my drivers who personally saw two couples, a Filipino and a foreigner, doing lewd acts on the beach in one of the resorts,” she said.

Port Barton is a popular beach community in the northern Palawan town of San Vicente.

“They cannot come here and disrespect the sanctity of our place, and there are residents who can see them which is bad,” she added.

If they need to do anything, it has to be in the privacy of their hotel or resort rooms, not on the beach, she said.

Acosta said she is in the process of completing an ordinance that would have the managements of resorts, hotels, and other accommodations to warn female guests against revealing beach wears and couples doing lewd acts on beaches.

“I am filing an ordinance soon about this to penalize resorts and individuals,” she stressed. (Celeste Anna Formoso/PNA)

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