DAR vows to give gov't land to Ati members

MANILA, Philippines — Members of the Ati tribe who are facing eviction from Boracay Island will be provided government land, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) said. 

In a statement on Thursday, DAR Secretary Conrado Estrella III said that the government will “treat the matter with compassion” in upholding the law. 

“We treat people with compassion, but we must uphold the law relative to the issue of Ati in Boracay,” Estrella was quoted as saying in a release.

“The Bureau of Soils and Water Management under the Department of Agriculture declared the landholding not suitable for agriculture which should be exempted from DAR coverage under Republic Act 6657, or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program,” he added.

In March 2023, the agency said that the land in Boracay was not suitable for farming.

The DAR also said that there is no basis for awarding Certificates of Land Ownership Awards (CLOAs) to the Ati members. 

Estrella also noted that the period of issuing the notice of coverage of private lands had already expired last June 30, 2014, when the agency issued the CLOAs to the Ati members in 2018.

“They cannot invoke Executive Order 75 here because it is not even a government-owned land since there is a legitimate claimant. EO 75 is a Malacanang order directing all government agencies to identify government land that could be distributed to qualified beneficiaries,” he said. — Ian Laqui