The island is considered so beautiful, Conde Nast Traveller readers voted it the best island in the world a little over a year ago.

But things might have changed since you were last in Boracay.

The island is struggling with a sewerage problem so bad, Philippines president Rodrigo “The Punisher” Duterte — a man not known to mince words — is furious.

“I will close Boracay. Boracay is a cesspool,” Duterte told reporters on Friday, according to a transcript from the presidential palace.

The president said tourists were having to swim in water polluted by faeces.

“You go into the water, it’s smelly. Smell of what? Sh*t. Because it all comes out in Boracay,” he said.

A number of businesses on Boracay are accused by the Philippines’ Environment Ministry of sending untreated sewerage out to sea.

Some businesses illegally tapped their sewerage line into the island’s water line, a ministry spokesman told AFP.

About 300 businesses faced sanitation checks, and 51 businesses have already been given official warnings for violating environmental regulations, Associated Press reported.

“(The ministry) is giving them two months to comply with the law. Otherwise, we will close them,” Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu said in a statement.

The Philippines tourism secretary Wanda Teo conceded Boracay needed a “clean-up”.

“It’s a shame that Boracay, which has repeatedly been recognised by prestigious travel magazines as the world’s most beautiful island, may yet end up a paradise lost if water contamination continues,” she said in a statement.

Duterte warned Boracay was facing an environmental “disaster” and a “tragedy” that could soon drive away the two million holiday-makers who visited the island each year, Channel News Asia reported.

He said he told the environment secretary: “I’ll give you six months. Clean the goddamn thing”.

While Boracay has an international reputation for being a slice of paradise, some tourists have criticised the island for being overcrowded, polluted and sleazy.

Tourist Anna McClelland, who recently wrote about her time on the island for news.com.au, said Boracay was either a tourist trap or untouched oasis depending on where you stayed.

“Station one is by far the most pristine and even if you’re not staying there (although you really should), it’s where you should head to swim. It’s the least developed section of the strip, with fewer boats crowding the water and a wider expanse of sand,” she said.

“The beach gets busier — and the water murkier — as you approach station two, which is where to head if you’re after a party island experience.”