21 guards involved in Boracay shootout under probe
Disputes over prized lots on the world-famous Boracay Island turned violent on Monday when a former soldier was shot dead and a 15-year old boy was wounded in a confrontation over a piece of property on the island.
Retired Army Sergeant Vicente Maming died of multiple gunshot wounds after he shot it out with security personnel guarding a property in Sitio Cagban in Barangay Manoc Manoc around 4:30 p.m., said Senior Insp. Auxilio Dador, chief of the Boracay Special Tourist Protection Office (BSTPO), in a telephone interview.
The property is owned by a corporation controlled by the family of Aklan Gov. Carlito Marquez.
Dador said 15-year-old Alden Odencio was wounded in the crossfire and was brought to the Dr. Rafael S. Tumbukon Memorial Hospital in the capital town of Kalibo at the mainland.
Maming, armed with a handgun, had entered the compound around 4 a.m. with around 20 of his relatives and insisted ownership of the property that is also being claimed by Polychem Properties Inc., a real estate company controlled by the five children of the governor.
The security guard assigned at the compound sought reinforcements from his agency which sent more guards.
The guards later shot it out with Maming as his companions fled.
Maming died on the spot due to multiple gunshot wounds. Police recovered a .45 caliber pistol and six empty shells from the handgun.
Dador said they have detained 21 security guards involved in the shootout and confiscated the guards' weapons including five shotguns and two .38-caliber pistols.
Marquez said he does not know Maming but said that Polychem Properties owns three lots each reaching around 1,000 square meters.
"I have heard that he is claiming ownership over the property as one of the heirs of the former owner but this already been transferred to my children's company," Marquez said in a telephone interview.
He said he has ordered the Aklan Provincial Police Office to investigate the incident and submit a report.
The P10-billion tourism industry of the 1,000-hectare Boracay Island has driven the price of properties dramatically in recent years. The price of lots along the beachfront can reach from P30,000 to P50,000 per square meter.
Prices of properties inland are also fast rising because of the congestion on the beach front.
Private ownership of lots on the island is technically illegal under Proclamation 1801 issued by the late President Ferdinand Marcos on Nov. 10, 1978.
The 1978 proclamation declared Boracay and other islands and coves as tourist and marine zones and were categorized as public lands.
But a significant portion of the island is titled. Most of the business owners and residents have been occupying other lots for around 30 years through tax declarations.
As more investors come in, tension over land ownership has risen between families who have been staying for decades on the island and big corporations and those from the mainland.