TAKING OVER WETLANDS Structures built by informal settlers cover Wetland No. 4 in Boracay. —LYN RILLON
BORACAY ISLAND, Aklan — Rogie Ascaño came home from work on Saturday, finding four rooms of his house demolished by a team supervised by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
The team also tore down three houses built in a mangrove area in Manoc-Manoc, one of three villages on Boracay Island.
“We need to clear the mangrove forests because these structures and those residing here contribute to the water pollution,” said lawyer Richard Favila, head of the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office in Boracay.
Ascaño’s house was among the 85 structures identified by the DENR as illegally occupying Wetland No. 6, one of the nine wetlands being cleared of structures by the DENR on the resort island for rehabilitation.
Cheaper to rent
The demolition continued until noon on Sunday and will resume on Tuesday.
Ascaño built a nine-room house on rented land. He paid P2,500 per month to Arleen Gelito, who claims to own the land.
Rooms are rented out to boarders, mostly workers, on the island.
Ascaño acknowledged that he had no legal right to stay in the mangrove forest but pleaded for time to move to a relocation area.
He cited a statement attributed to Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu, assuring residents of forest lands that they would not be evicted until a relocation area has been found.
“Right from the start, we were only asking for relocation,” Ascaño said.
“We are willing to demolish our houses,” he said as the demolition team continued to tear down his house.
Aware of violation
Ricardo Lara Jr., a carpenter, rented a 3.6-meter by 3-meter land from Gelito since 2006, and built rooms for his family—a wife and six children.
“We were doubtful on the ownership of the land but it’s cheaper to build rooms than rent,” he said.
He rented a room for P2,500 monthly from 2006 to 2013, but now pays P1,000 in monthly land rent.
“We admit that it’s a violation,” he said.
He, too, pleaded for a relocation area.
“We already have no work and we will also lose our home,” he said.
Gelito, who was present during the demolition on Sunday, admitted to renting out the land, on the basis of a 25-year fishpond lease agreement (FLA) that was given to her grandfather, Lucas.
She admitted that the FLA had expired but that the area used to be “dry.”
Why only now?
“The DENR did not tell us then that it was illegal to build here,” Gelito said. “They’re telling us that only now,” she said.
She also admitted not issuing receipts for the rent.
“We just agree over it, sometimes over drinks,” she told the Inquirer.
But Favila said converting land covered by an FLA was illegal and those who rented the land could be held liable.
He added that only residents living in forest land would be provided relocation sites but not their boarders.
Eviction notices had been issued to land claimants and residents.
“Boarding houses over bodies of water will be the first to go,” he said.
He said renting forest land to financiers, who build boarding houses and collect rents, had thrived in Boracay.