Duterte wants committee to review ‘rightful owners’ of Boracay lands 

President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday said he wants a commitee to review land titles in Boracay and give it to its “rightful owners” after its rehabilitation.

“You know Boracay, I always say, ‘allow government to clean it.’ And after that, I will return Boracay to its rightful owners,” he said in a speech during the 31st anniversary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Quezon City.

He said there should be a committee to review land title issues in Boracay to be “fair” to everybody.

”Now the problem is how to determine who owns what. That’s the problem now. So there has to be a committee to be fair to everybody,” he said.

The President ordered the six-month closure of Boracay resort island, starting April 26, to allow its rehabilitation as he likened the resort island to a “cesspool.”

READ: Duterte approves 6-month closure of Boracay, starting April 26

Earlier, he also said that Boracay would be subjected to agrarian reform, with the land distributed to the Ati tribe. /ee

READ: Duterte defends Boracay land reform