Claimants won’t allow Atis to settle in Boracay

BORACAY ISLAND — Members of the Ati community who were awarded land by the government five months ago on Boracay Island could still not occupy the property due to the resistance of claimants.

The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) is still hearing a petition for injunction filed by the Ati people in May to acquire possession of a 2.1-hectare lot in barangay Manoc-Manoc at the northern end of the 1,032-hectare island.

“We hope to resolve the petition soon so that the Ati community will have peace of mind and transfer to their permanent home,” Dionesia Banua, NCIP commissioner for Island Group and the Visayas, told the Inquirer Monday.

The NCIP had awarded a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) in the name of the Boracay Ati Tribal Organization (Bato) on Jan. 21 for the property. The beachfront land will be the new home to 40 Ati families, or around 200 tribe members. /INQUIRER