Duterte forms committee to determine real Boracay landowners
By Roel Tibay
Published Jul 4, 2018 06:13 pm
By Genalyn Kabiling
A government committee must be created to determine the real landowners of Boracay amid moves to implement land reform in the island, President Duterte said Wednesday.
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte
(REY BANIQUET/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN) At the 31st anniversary celebration of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Quezon City, the President stressed there was a need to verify the existing land titles to know the true property owners. Duterte maintained that Boracay remains a forestal and agricultural land, and has never been opened for commercial use. "Alam mo ‘yang Boracay, sinasabi ko, allow government to clean it and after that, I will return Boracay to its rightful owners. Now the problem is how to determine who owns what so there has to be a committee to be fair to everybody. From the local government then from the origins of any title there," Duterte said in his speech. "Because ang problema niyan, the island of Boracay, according to President Arroyo at sa akin, my stand is that Boracay has never been open to any commercial exploitation. Walang residential. It remains forestal and agriculture," he said. Last April, the President authorized a six-month closure of Boracay to allow massive rehabilitation in the island that includes upgrading the sewage system and dismantling illegal structure in the island. Once the rehabilitation period is over, Duterte intended to give back the island to the locals under a land reform program. The President, in his remarks at the DENR event, said he prefers to return the land to the natives rather than the big businesses. He said Boracay was just a small place and could not accommodate an "overload of humanity." "I will not allow gambling, I will not even give it to big business. Let us determine first who owns the place if there is any title," he said. "If it gets to be muddy to really dwell into it and question everything, well I leave it to the local governments to decide or to the congressman," he added. While most of the land will be under land reform, Duterte said he would leave to the discretion of Congress to delineate a portion of the Boracay coastline for commercial use. He assured that such commercial strip would be "heavily regulated." Duterte also defended the government-led rehabilitation efforts in Boracay, saying it was a "moral obligation" to ensure the cleanliness of the island, which he previously described as a cesspool. He said the country has been promoting Boracay as a tourist destination but the island has become "full of sh*t.” "To maintain its viability, since I said we proclaim it to the world as a crown jewel of our tourist destinations here, it is our moral obligation to make it clean, hygiene and safe," he said.
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte(REY BANIQUET/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN) At the 31st anniversary celebration of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Quezon City, the President stressed there was a need to verify the existing land titles to know the true property owners. Duterte maintained that Boracay remains a forestal and agricultural land, and has never been opened for commercial use. "Alam mo ‘yang Boracay, sinasabi ko, allow government to clean it and after that, I will return Boracay to its rightful owners. Now the problem is how to determine who owns what so there has to be a committee to be fair to everybody. From the local government then from the origins of any title there," Duterte said in his speech. "Because ang problema niyan, the island of Boracay, according to President Arroyo at sa akin, my stand is that Boracay has never been open to any commercial exploitation. Walang residential. It remains forestal and agriculture," he said. Last April, the President authorized a six-month closure of Boracay to allow massive rehabilitation in the island that includes upgrading the sewage system and dismantling illegal structure in the island. Once the rehabilitation period is over, Duterte intended to give back the island to the locals under a land reform program. The President, in his remarks at the DENR event, said he prefers to return the land to the natives rather than the big businesses. He said Boracay was just a small place and could not accommodate an "overload of humanity." "I will not allow gambling, I will not even give it to big business. Let us determine first who owns the place if there is any title," he said. "If it gets to be muddy to really dwell into it and question everything, well I leave it to the local governments to decide or to the congressman," he added. While most of the land will be under land reform, Duterte said he would leave to the discretion of Congress to delineate a portion of the Boracay coastline for commercial use. He assured that such commercial strip would be "heavily regulated." Duterte also defended the government-led rehabilitation efforts in Boracay, saying it was a "moral obligation" to ensure the cleanliness of the island, which he previously described as a cesspool. He said the country has been promoting Boracay as a tourist destination but the island has become "full of sh*t.” "To maintain its viability, since I said we proclaim it to the world as a crown jewel of our tourist destinations here, it is our moral obligation to make it clean, hygiene and safe," he said.