Boracay's Ati, Tumandok tribes receive land, support services from DAR through CARP
By Ellalyn De Vera-Ruiz
Indigenous people belonging to the Ati and Tumandok tribes in Boracay are now beneficiaries of the government's Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).
Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) Secretary John Castriciones
(DAR / MANILA BULLETIN) The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) last Thursday distributed 1.9858 hectares of agricultural lands to 31 members of the Boracay Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Association under a collective ownership title. Secretary John Castriciones said the beneficiaries of the Boracay Island and Boracay Tumandok (Bisaya) Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries also received support services from the DAR. Bisaya comprises 31 families belonging to the Lucas S. Gelito clan, who are occupants of Wetland No. 6. Their houses were demolished to give way to the rehabilitation of Boracay Island in 2018. Meanwhile, the Ati village is located on a beachfront property, which was awarded to the tribe in 2011 through a certificate of ancestral domain title issued by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples. The Ati and Tumandok are the original inhabitants of Boracay island and were displaced and relegated to a 2.1-hectare walled community when the island was developed into a prime tourist destination in early 2000. In 2018, President Rodrigo Duterte led the distribution of 623 certificates of land ownership award (CLOAs), covering 274 hectares of land in Boracay and Aklan, as was his promise to the area’s original inhabitants and other agrarian reform beneficiaries. Along with the distribution of CLOAs to the Tumandok and Ati tribes last Thursday, 43,826 agrarian reform beneficiaries were given land covering roughly 51,385.75 hectares in Boracay, Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo, and Negros Occidental.
Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) Secretary John Castriciones(DAR / MANILA BULLETIN) The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) last Thursday distributed 1.9858 hectares of agricultural lands to 31 members of the Boracay Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Association under a collective ownership title. Secretary John Castriciones said the beneficiaries of the Boracay Island and Boracay Tumandok (Bisaya) Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries also received support services from the DAR. Bisaya comprises 31 families belonging to the Lucas S. Gelito clan, who are occupants of Wetland No. 6. Their houses were demolished to give way to the rehabilitation of Boracay Island in 2018. Meanwhile, the Ati village is located on a beachfront property, which was awarded to the tribe in 2011 through a certificate of ancestral domain title issued by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples. The Ati and Tumandok are the original inhabitants of Boracay island and were displaced and relegated to a 2.1-hectare walled community when the island was developed into a prime tourist destination in early 2000. In 2018, President Rodrigo Duterte led the distribution of 623 certificates of land ownership award (CLOAs), covering 274 hectares of land in Boracay and Aklan, as was his promise to the area’s original inhabitants and other agrarian reform beneficiaries. Along with the distribution of CLOAs to the Tumandok and Ati tribes last Thursday, 43,826 agrarian reform beneficiaries were given land covering roughly 51,385.75 hectares in Boracay, Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo, and Negros Occidental.