File/Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

MANILA—Diving will not yet be allowed in Boracay when it reopens in October, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said Saturday.

Romulo-Puyat, however, said the agency will focus on diving spots in the Philippines.

“A lot of our tourists come," she said during the Diving Resort Travel Expo held in Mandaluyong.

"We will be strengthening the Philippine diving commissions and we will make policies to make sure that everything is protected, of course, sustainable tourism."

Tourism Secretary Berna Puyat says they will return to Boracay on September 28 to finalize the guidelines during the interagency meeting. Are divers allowed on the soft opening on October? Puyat says not yet. pic.twitter.com/tnTr4HchJn — Kevin Manalo (@kevinmanalo_) September 8, 2018

She said it will be one of the agency’s priorities in the next months but, given the status of Boracay, Puyat said it would need further studies to greenlight diving there.

“We will have a soft opening on October 26 with hotels who are only compliant. We are on track but as I’ve said it is only a soft opening. It takes more than 6 months to rehabilitate the island," she said.

Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu will announce the decided carrying capacity of the island in the coming weeks, she added.