Boracay shutdown begins

Tight security: Policemen patrolling the Boracay beach after the island was closed to tourists. — AFP

Boracay: The Philippines shuttered its most famous holiday island, Boracay, to tourists for a six-month clean-up, which the government has imposed with a muscular show of its security forces.

Assault-rifle wielding police were posted at entry points to the once-pristine island that has become tainted by heavy commercialisation and overdevelopment.