ILOILO City – Eighteen more hectares of land in Boracay Island would be distributed to agrarian reform beneficiaries who are mainly indigenous peoples (IPs) and farmers, according to Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) secretary John Castriciones.
During a recent visit here, Castriciones said DAR was in the process of identifying the beneficiaries.
After the beneficiaries have been validated, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) would start the transfer of deeds, he said.
Of the 18 hectares for distribution, 2.3 hectares were part of the first phase of land distribution in the island.
President Rodrigo Duterte made good on his promise to distribute a portion of Boracay to agrarian reform beneficiaries. November last year he distributed 623 certificates of land ownership award (CLOAs), covering 274 hectares of land in Boracay and Aklan province, to the area’s original inhabitants and other agrarian reform beneficiaries. Six of the CLOAs went to 45 members of the Boracay Ati Tribal Organization.
The Atis were the original inhabitants of Boracay. But as the island developed into one of Asia’s prime beach destinations they were compelled to live in a 2.1-hectare gated community.
Duterte previously said the Atis could opt to sell the awarded land to “big businesses” so that they “will have huge money.”
The famous holiday island was closed to tourists on April 26, 2018 after Duterte branded it as a “cesspool,” citing its sewage woes. The government then embarked on a six-month rehabilitation.
It reopened on Oct. 26, 2018 with authorities enforcing stricter rules to ensure cleanliness and order in the island, but some road and infrastructure works remained unfinished.
Under the new regime, the once-cluttered beachfront was cleared of massage stalls, vendors, bonfires and even the builders of the island’s famous sandcastles.
Buildings were bulldozed and businesses pushed back to create a 30-meter buffer zone from the waterline. (With reports from ABA-CBN and Agence France-Presse/PN)
