CDO issued vs Lio Estate

MANILA, Philippines — The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples has partially enforced the cease and desist order issued against Ten Knots Phils Inc., a subsidiary of Ayala Land Inc. for its tourism-related businesses in Palawan.

In its order, issued on March 7, NCIP warned the public against the selling and leasing of lands that are said to be ancestral domain lands of the Tagbanua Tandulanen (TT) in Brgys. Villa Libertad and Pasadena in El Nido, Palawan.

The Tagbanuwa Tandulanen Indigenous People’s (IP) community earlier questioned the operation of TKPI, which involved the Lio Tourism Estate and El Nido Cove Resort located in the barangays of Villa Libertad and Pasadena, El Nido, Palawan.

Lio Tourism Estate is a master-planned beach residential village while the Lio Airport is a private airport owned and operated by TKPI for the exclusive use for its aircraft, Airswift Philippines, which flies to-and-from El Nido, Manila, Cebu, Boracay and Bohol.

TKPI also owns and operates four island resorts in Palawan, which are Apulit, Miniloc, Lagen, and Pangulasian, whose locations are also claimed by the Tagbanuwa Tandulanen IP community as part of their ancestral domain.

The closure of the Ten Knots’ El Nido airport, however, was deferred because of public interest.

“We wish to warn the public that there is an ongoing process on the subdivided lots being sold by TKPI. It would be best that the public wait for the termination of this process for their protection,” the Tagbanua tribe said in a statement.

NCIP in Palawan sought the help of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in implementing the CDO.