NCIP orders a stop to eviction of Aetas in Boracay
An aeta community in Sto. Bolabog, Brgy.
Balabag, Boracay island pose with the
sisters of Holy Rosary Parish Ati Mission
(HRPAM) in this file photo taken sometime
in January 2005. TNT File
The regional office of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) recently ruled that Aeta (locally known Ati) communities in the world famous tourist destination Boracay island in Malay, Aklan cannot be evicted from their settlement.
"All told, the resident Atis of Boracay Island, Malay, Aklan cannot be summarily relocated without their free, prior and informed consent..." lawyer Sulpicio Gamosa Jr., NCIP regional hearing officer, said in his 81-page decision promulgated Friday, April 28, 2006.
The case stemmed from a complaint filed by Chieftain Delsa Justo in behalf of the Ati indigenous cultural community in Boracay island. At present, according to the decision, there are 42 Ati families living in 36 houses situated inside the community located in Sitio Bolabog in Barangay Balabag. There are seven more houses belonging to the Atis located a kilometer away from the community.
In her handwritten complaint dated February 17, 2005 addressed to Attorney Ruben Dasay Lingating, chair of the NCIP, Justo alleged that Nathaniel Sacapaño, acting on behalf of Aklan Representative Joven Miraflores and Prospera Yap, had asked them to leave the land on which their community stands.
Miraflores and Yap are claiming ownership of the land based on tax declarations issued to them by the Provincial Assessor's Office of Aklan.
To prevent adverse claimants and the government from evicting the indigenous settlers of the white-sand tourist haven, Gamosa ordered that the Writ of Preliminary Injunction issued April 29 last year be made permanent against holders of tax declarations and/or adverse claimants, the provincial government of Aklan, the municipal government of Malay, the barangay council of Barangay Balabag, Malay, Aklan, the Philippine Tourism Authority and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
"The gist of (the) decision is that defendants (are) permanently enjoined from summarily evicting the Atis without the benefit of a court order, pending the resolution of the two Ati CADT (Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title) petitions," Gamosa said in a text message to The News Today. The decision is also without prejudice to whatever is the decision of the Supreme Court's second division in a related pending case on the effect of the declaration of then President Ferdinand Marcos making all lands in the island inalienable and indisposable.
"Now, if only this humble judgment on the issue of possession would make the Atis break into gentle smiles, albeit temporarily, and not merely for posterity's sake, and everyone can see that their teeth are in fact brightly white, just like the white beaches of Boracay-their home, their land, their life," the decision further said.
It was stressed though that "...may it be clarified that in taking action on this case, the NCIP is not out to sabotage the Government's tourism industry."
Gamosa, citing the decision of the Court of Appeals in the 2004 case of City of Mayor of Baguio City, et al. versus Atty. Brain Masweng, NCIP-CAR regional hearing officer, et al., decided that "...the NCIP through its Regional Hearing Officers has the authority to prevent the demolition of the houses of ICCs/ IPs (Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous Peoples) while these applications for CADTs are still pending." Moreover, he upheld the supremacy of the Atis' native title to their ancestral domain over tax declarations.
According to the decision, the Atis were the original settlers of the 1,038.82 hectare island. The influx of foreigners and the economic transformation of Boracay drove the natives into the interior of the island until they were relocated in their present community.
According to the decision, "Unlike the Visayans, the Ati people had not made claims to a piece of land through a tax declarations, which was unknown to them and their elders who did not know how to read and write. They were more concerned with looking for food unmindful that, later on, they would become 'squatters in their own land'."