De Lima: Probe alleged land grabbing activities in Boracay

Sen. Leila de Lima —JOSEPH VIDAL

Detained opposition Senator Leila de Lima called on her colleagues at the Senate on Monday to launch an investigation into alleged land grabbing activities purportedly by commercial developers in Boracay Island, which has been undergoing rehabilitation in the past months.

De Lima filed Senate Resolution No. 902, urging the Senate to make sure rehabilitation efforts would not disregard the rights of Boracay’s Indigenous Peoples (IPs) to their ancestral land.

“There is need to establish the official policy and plan of action of the government over the determination of the rights of the indigenous peoples over the property in Boracay that they claim as part of their ancestral land,” she noted.

De Lima stressed the need “to prevent any form of commercial development over properties that are claimed as ancestral lands until a definite plan has been formulated by the appropriate agencies to address the plight of the indigenous peoples in Boracay.”

The senator also urged the Senate to look into possible amendments in the existing laws relating to ancestral domains to allow relief to the IPs against private interests encroaching on their communities.

Last April, the government imposed a six-month total closure of Boracay in a bid to rehabilitate the world-famous tourist destination, which President Rodrigo Duterte even called a “cesspool” due to various environmental woes in the island.

Mr. Duterte later placed Boracay under land reform to address decades-old land ownership issues faced by residents, property owners, claimants, and investors.

De Lima maintained that the purpose of closing the island is to implement rehabilitation plans due to health concerns so no commercial development should have been conducted in Boracay during this six-month period.

“Long before Boracay became a revenue-generating tourist attraction, it has been home to the island’s locals and indigenous peoples, thus conservation efforts should take into utmost consideration how the inhabitants will be affected,” she noted. /kga