ILOILO CITY ? Several persons were injured and a fire destroyed and damaged stalls and houses after violence erupted during a demolition on a disputed commercial-residential lot along the beach on Boracay Island Thursday morning.

Supt. Larry Decena, acting Aklan police director, said a still undetermined number of persons were hurt after unidentified persons threw stones at the demolition team and their police escorts.

Sheriffs from the Kalibo Regional Trial Court accompanied by a demolition team arrived at the 6,000-square meter property in Sitio Manggayad in Barangay Manoc-Manoc around 8 a.m.

They were escorted by around 100 policemen from the Aklan Provincial Police Office and the Boracay Special Tourist Police Office.

Decena said the sheriffs and demolition team were prevented by occupants from entering the property, which has been transformed into a commercial center. The occupants put up a human barricade of around 50 persons, mostly women, to block the demolition team.

An hour-long negotiation followed between the occupants and the sheriffs but a commotion erupted after smoke and fire were seen coming out from one of the stalls.

Police subsequently fired teargas to disperse the barricade and the protesting occupants as the fire started to spread.

Force

?We decided to force our way in to put out the fire,? Decena told the Inquirer in a telephone interview.

Decena said the hour-long fire destroyed or damaged around 15 houses and stalls. It was put under control around 10:30 a.m.

No arrests were made but police were still investigating the cause of the fire and the identities of those who threw stones at the demolition team.

The Kalibo RTC on Nov. 3 issued a demolition order after the Supreme Court ruled with finality on the disputed property being claimed by Vicente delos Santos and more than 57 others.

Delos Santos and his co-claimants filed the petition in court claiming ownership of four adjacent lots covering a total of 14,771 square meters.

The Kalibo RTC on April 29, 1996 had issued a ruling that Jesus delos Santos and Rosita delos Santos-Flores were the lawful owners of two-thirds of the disputed land or 9,915 square meters. It also ruled that the remaining one-third of the property or 4,957 square meters were owned by businessman Fred Elizalde and Joan Elizalde.

The petitioners filed appeals before the Court of Appeals but these were subsequently denied. The Supreme Court upheld the CA rulings in an order promulgated on Feb. 2, 2007.

The demolition is the latest violent incident involving rising disputes on prized lots on the world famous island-resort.

A retired soldier was shot dead on the island early last year in an armed confrontation with security guards hired by a company disputing ownership of the property. Two other armed confrontations over land disputes have been reported on the island this year.