FOLLOWING President Rodrigo Duterte's firm stance that the entire Boracay island is now under land reform, some 80 Aetas may immediately benefit from the program and own land in the world-famous destination, Malacañang said Friday, June 1.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. said roughly 20 hectares in Boracay could be immediately distributed to some 80 potential beneficiaries from Aeta village in the island.
"Per the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), an initially identified 18 to 20 hectares, with no structures, can be immediately placed under agrarian reform subject to further ground verification survey," the Palace offiical siad in a statement.
"Following the President's instruction to prioritize indigenous people, there are possibly eighty individuals from Ati or Aeta village in Boracay island that could qualify as agrarian reform beneficiaries subject to screening," he added.
On Thursday, May 31, Duterte stressed that declaring Boracay as a land reform area would rectify "inadequacies" that resulted in the inequality among ethnic minorities in the island.
The President believed that indigenous peoples would benefit the most in transforming Boracay into an agrarian refom area.
"The minorities there [in Boracay] could not get their lands there. Correct, [that's one of the] certain inadequacies that you cannot exempt. My administration, we're trying to correct it," he said in a speech in Quezon province.
Boracay, one of the country's top destinations for local and foreign tourists, has been temporarily closed since April 26, following concerns of massive damage to its once pristince state because of reported environmental woes.
Roque said Duterte's move to put Boracay under land reform was in line with the implementation of Proclamation 1064 signed by former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, classifying Boracay into forest land and agricultural land.
"The President's decision to put Boracay under land reform is in line with Presidential Proclamation No. 1064 signed last 2006 and affirmed constitutional by the Supreme Court classifying parts of the island into forestland and into agricultural land," he said.
Under Arroyo's proclamation, about 628.96 hectares of Boracay were identified agricultural land, while 377.69 hectares were deemed as forest land.
The DAR earlier said 408.5113 hectares of 628.96 hectares of agricultural land in Boracay could be placed under land reform, since 220.4 hectares of which were exempted from land reform. (VoxPop Philippines)
