Robredo tells Atis they can stay on Boracay land

ILOILO CITY—The Ati tribe in Boracay Island would not be removed from the ancestral land that they occupied on Tuesday even without a writ of possession, according to Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo.

But Robredo directed local officials to implement “status quo” and prevent structures from being built by the tribe or anyone else on the land in Barangay Manoc-Manoc, Malay town, in Boracay.

“They can stay there as long as they do not occupy structures by other claimants and they will not extend the fence they have erected,” Robredo said in a phone interview on Tuesday.

The tribe agreed to limit to 10 members those who would stay in the enclosed area at night, said Sr. Victoria Ustan of Holy Rosary Parish Ati Mission, which had been living among and helping the tribe.

The Ati tribe has been staying on a 1-hectare community in Sitio Bolabog in Barangay Balabag but has been continuously threatened with eviction by claimants.

Chief Insp. Christopher Prangan, the chief of the Boracay Tourist Assistance Center, said policemen have been deployed to the area to maintain order.