More cops sent to secure threatened Boracay tribe

ILOILO CITY—Security measures at the Ati community on Boracay Island in Aklan have been increased due to continued threats against tribe members, according to the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP).

Marlea Muñez, NCIP executive director, said the police force stationed at the community in Barangay (village) Manoc-Manoc has been increased to 16 policemen who have been directed to conduct regular patrols.

“They are still facing threats and we do not want another Dexter Condez,” Muñez told the Inquirer in a telephone interview.

She was referring to the spokesperson of the Boracay Ati Tribe Organization (Bato) who was gunned down by a lone assailant on Feb. 22 last year.

Condez was the most vocal and visible figure in the tribe’s struggle to have a land of their own on Boracay, which is considered their ancestral land.

Investigators believe that Condez was murdered because of disputes over the 2.1-hectare beach-front property awarded to the tribe by the government in 2011 through a certificate of ancestral domain title (CADT) issued by the NCIP.

Nearly a year after the killing of Condez, police failed to arrest Daniel Celestino who was accused in the killing.

Celestino is a security guard of Crown Regency Boracay Resorts hotel chain, which is owned by the Cebu-based property developer J. King & Sons Co. Inc. The property developer is among those with boundary disputes or ownership claims over the CADT-covered land of the tribe.

Celestino and his employers have repeatedly denied involvement in the killing of Condez.

The NCIP last week led the dismantling of barbed wire fences and a sign claiming private ownership over parts of the CADT-covered area.

Thirty-two Ati families, or around 200 tribe members, reside in the community but at least three claimants have questioned the CADT in the courts.

The NCIP has maintained the legality of the issuance of the CADT and has argued that the regional trial courts have no jurisdiction over the disputes in the issuance of the title.

Muñez said the commission had also asked the police to investigate the conduct of the security guards of the claimants.

The guards were seen carrying firearms even when not wearing their uniforms, according to Muñez.

Anthropologists have backed up claims that the Atis were the earliest settlers on the island but were displaced and driven away especially starting in the 1970s when the beauty of the island became known and attracted tourists.