Ati and Aeta members stand to get Boracay farmland

Some 80 members of the Ati and Aeta indigenous peoples (IPs) may become owners of farmland on Boracay Island as part of President Rodrigo Duterte’s directive to place the island renowned for its white sand beaches under land reform.

Malacañang on Friday said the President wished to prioritize the IPs in the grant of landholdings under the terms of  Proclamation No. 1064 classifying parts of Boracay as agricultural land.

“Following the President’s instruction to prioritize indigenous people, there are possibly 80 individuals from Ati/Aeta village on Boracay Island that could qualify as agrarian reform beneficiaries subject to screening,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a statement.

The Department of Agrarian Reform initially identified 18 to 20 hectares, empty of structures, that may be awarded to the ethnic group considered to be the original inhabitants of Boracay and nearby islands, he said.

The government shut down Boracay for six months, starting on April 28, to allow the authorities to rehabilitate the island, which Mr. Duterte calls a “cesspool.”—DJ YAP