ILOILO City – Over 200 households facing demolition in Boracay Island are seeking legal assistance. Members are determined to work together to defend their rights and welfare, according to the households that banded themselves under the name “We are Boracay”.
The group claimed 579 demolition orders were issued by the local government unit of Malay, Aklan 325 of which covered residential houses without relocation.
The government is bent on removing illegal structures encroaching Boracay’s wetlands and forest areas. Only four out of nine wetlands in the island remain due to the illegal encroachment of structures, according to President Rodrigo Duterte.
The government counted 937 structures illegally constructed on forestlands and wetlands as of April 25, as well as 102 erected on areas already classified as easements.
“As of May 12, 2018 20 of these residential houses were demolished without due process, leaving the affected residents no refuge,” according to “We are Boracay” in a statement.
It also counted as members displaced workers, odd jobbers and tricycle drivers in the island.
President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the temporary closure of Boracay for six months beginning April 26 for a much needed rehabilitation. According to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, fuelling Boracay’s degradation over the years were runaway development, the influx of people beyond the island’s carrying capacity, poor implementation of environmental regulations, and encroachment of structures.
“We are Boracay” listed the following immediate needs:
* legal assistance to help residents facing demolition and jobless workers for their claims
* medical and psychosocial services
* food, food supplement and educational materials for schoolchildren
The group also called for the lifting of the Boracay closure order, implementation of genuine rehabilitation, and demilitarization of the island.
“The island’s closure has resulted to a high level anxiety on inhabitants. The media have widely reported the case of a resident who had a breakdown after receiving a demolition order,” according to the group.
“We are Boracay” urged the government to “put right at center the welfare of the people in any move to rehabilitate the island.”
It claimed over 36,000 workers have been displaced and 46,829 island residents lost their livelihood “putting them in a situation of immediate hunger.”
Inhabitants have no other livelihood alternatives, it said, precisely because the island was developed and marketed on tourism-dependent jobs, odd jobs and livelihood.
The group also warned of the impending displacement of over 500 drivers of fuel-operated tricycles.
“The permits for the currently fuel-operated tricycles will be cancelled by May 31, 2018 and will be removed from the streets by June 2018,” according to “We are Boracay.”
The group lamented, too, Boracay’s transformation into “a garrison under a de facto martial law rule.”
“An island-wide lockdown was effected restricting the movements of residents. This restriction affects their social interaction and isolates them from the mainland,” according to the group.
At least 630 policemen, including members of elite military units and anti-riot teams are deployed in the island, posted in 16 entry points along the main road and shorelines and other strategic areas. This is on top of the 472 policemen in the island prior to the total closure.
“Access to the outside world after the specified period of ingress and egress from the island is dependent on the approval of the police authorities who are in control of the jetty port and put in place to monitor the strict compliance of the closure guidelines,” according to the group.
This “overkill” deployment of the government forces has created a climate of fear, it stressed./PN
