Claimants of Ati land on Boracay barred from building anything on it

MANILA, Philippines—The three claimants of a piece of land on the island resort of Boracay that has been awarded to the Ati tribe are barred from building any structures on the property.

The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) made this clear in last Wednesday’s order installing the Ati tribespeople on the 2.1-hectare property in Bgy. Manoc-manoc, which is part of the municipality of Malay, Aklan.

In the order, the NCIP granted the Ati’s petition permanently enjoining the other non-IP claimants against infringing on their ownership rights, and from further constructing structures on the property, located on the southern end of the island.

“That’s no longer theirs. They should not be constructing anything,” NCIP chair Zenaida Brigida H. Pawid said in an interview Friday morning.

The NCIP also requested the Department of Interior and Local Government and the Philippine National Police to ensure the installation of the Ati, who occupied a portion of the property on April 17 despite ongoing development by the three other claimants.

Since the Ati tribespeople had already occupied the land, there was no need for a formal installation, Pawid said, adding, however, that the three other claimants of the land could appeal the NCIP’s ruling in court.

Pawid clarified that the NCIP issued an order to install the Ati, not a writ of possession.

In January 2011, the NCIP awarded the Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title to the Ati tribe, the first inhabitants of the island who filed a petition in 2000 to have legal possession of their ancestral land.

But three individuals questioned this in the local courts.

One of the claimants, Rudy Banico, questioned the recent occupation of the property by the Ati, arguing that the Kalibo regional trial court had yet to resolve a petition for injunction he had filed.