Thirty-one beneficiaries from Boracay Island in Malay, Aklan have successfully claimed the lands awarded to them under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) said on Saturday.
Tension initially gripped the area as the installation team headed by DAR-Western Visayas regional legal chief Geony Licera-Gregorio, sheriff Chaddy Maday, and Aklan provincial agrarian reform program OIC Ma. Teresa Valencia found a group of watchmen from a private security agency manning the landholdings located in Barangay Manoc-manoc.
Licera-Gregorio showed them the writ of installation prompting a representative of the security agency to order the watchmen to let the installation team and beneficiaries enter the area.
The beneficiaries belonging to the Boracay Tumandok Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Association (BTARBA) held a ceremonial tree planting to establish full possession and control of the farmland, with a combined area of 1.9858 hectares, that was awarded to them last March 12.
Licera-Gregorio said the installation of the beneficiaries came just in time as their homes in the so-called "Wetland No. 6," also known as"Dead Forest," had been demolished to give way for the rehabilitation of the area.
Wetlands are considered to be one of the world’s most biologically diverse ecosystems as they are home to a wide variety of plant and animal species.
They also help reduce soil erosion, retain sediments, absorb nutrients, store water to minimize the impacts of floods and droughts, and help mitigate the effects of climate change.
The CARP beneficiaries also received confiscated lumber from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources which they could use for the construction of their new homes.