(IAN PAUL CORDERO/CONTRIBUTOR)
MANILA, Philippines — House Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro called for a congressional investigation into the displacement of Ati tribe members in a disputed area on Boracay Island.
Castro emphasized the “urgent need to address this issue and ensure the protection of the rights of indigenous communities.”
Castro raised concerns about the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) allegedly supporting land developers who sought to cancel the Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOA) of Ati members in Boracay, resulting in their displacement.
According to a previous Inquirer report, the tribe members were evicted from their land and were presented with a decision by DAR on March 5, 2024, which upheld the cancellation of their CLOA.
“If this is true, why are the developers being favored by DAR instead of the indigenous people who naturally grew up in the area and are the ones taking care of it?” Castro said in a statement.
The DAR – Western Visayas previously issued four separate resolutions granting a petition by land developers who claimed that the parcels of land awarded to Ati tribe members in Boracay by the Duterte administration were unsuitable for farming.
“This was a serious violation of the rights of the Ati people, and they should be immediately returned to their land and compensated for what happened,” Castro added.
A leader of the Boracay Ati Tribal Organization has already reached out to Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Chairperson Richard Papal-Iatoc, asserting that their eviction violated their human rights.