Aklan court bars permanent structures on Ati land

TOURISTS enjoy the white sand beach of Boracay, unaware of the plight of the Ati tribe on the world-famous island resort. ANDREW TADALAN

ILOILO CITY—An Aklan court has barred the construction of permanent structures in the Ati community on Boracay Island.

In a two-page cease and desist order issued on May 3, the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 5 in Kalibo, Aklan, ordered the Boracay Ati Tribal Organization and its supporters to stop erecting permanent structures on a piece of property that has been titled to them in Barangay (village) Manoc-Manoc in Boracay.

The order, issued by Judge Elmo del Rosario, also directed the Aklan police to enforce the court ruling.

The order was issued based on a motion filed by Ulysses Rudi Banico, who questioned the construction of structures on the piece of property that supposedly now belongs to the Ati community, the earliest settlers in Boracay.

Banico is among the claimants to the piece of property that is now covered by a certificate of ancestral domain title (CADT) issued in 2011 by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples to the Ati tribe. The CADT covers a 2.1-hectare piece of land in Barangay Manoc-Manoc.

Banico has filed a petition at the RTC Branch 5 for injunction and to ask the court to nullify the title issued to the Atis.

In its order, the court said the construction of structures on the piece of property violated its Jan. 20, 2011, order for all parties in the land case to “maintain and preserve the status quo.”

Various nongovernment organizations and government agencies have pledged support programs for the tribe.

The tribe has drawn more support after their spokesperson, Dexter Condez, was gunned down on April 22 as he and two other tribe leaders were walking to their village after attending a meeting.

Investigators believe that Condez was murdered because of the ongoing dispute over the land that the Ati tribe occupied following the issuance of the CADT to the tribe.