Tension grips Boracay

MANILA, Philippines – Armed thugs reportedly took control of a resort on the luxury Philippine resort island of Boracay yesterday, holding the Australian owner and his family captive in their apartment, the owner reported.

In a telephone interview, Greg Hutchinson said about a dozen “thugs” brandishing automatic weapons entered the grounds of the SandCastles resort around 10 p.m. last Wednesday, forcing staff and guests to flee.

“We were in our third floor apartment when they barged in wearing ski masks and forced our guests and staff to leave,” Hutchinson said.

“As far as I know no shots were fired but they terrified the hell out of the staff and guests,” he added.

He said electricity and telephone connections to his apartment, which is next to the resort, have been cut and the emergency exit blocked with an industrial gas cylinder.

“It’s terrifying for my wife, Viveca, and five-year-old twins,” Hutchinson said.

Authorities said responding policemen forced the armed men to leave the resort, which is now being secured by police officers.

Hutchinson, who helped build Boracay into a world-renowned beach resort, said he has been the victim of an organized campaign to force him out of Boracay.

“When we opened SandCastles in 1989 there were just 10 resorts here... now there are over 100,” a shaken Hutchinson said.

“This type of intimidation has been going on for three years. We thought it had stopped,” he said. “This is the way things are done in the Philippines.”

“There are certain elements in the country who wait until you develop something, make a success of it and then they move in and force you out so they can reap the rewards.”

The current dispute is over Hutchinson’s 30-year lease, which still has 11 years to go.

Boracay police chief Superintendent Arnold Ardiente said he had offered Hutchinson and his family safe passage out of the resort but they refused to leave and were waiting for their lawyer.

“It is a civil dispute,” he said, denying there were still armed thugs on the premises.

“Police and security guards had been at the resort all night,” he said.

Police said tension had gripped the contested resort since the landowner and Hutchinson started the dispute over the duration of the lease of the property.

In a phone interview, Western Visayas police director Chief Superintendent Isagani Cuevas said the Boracay police chief deployed policemen to the compound of SandCastles resort to maintain peace and order.

Police said Hutchinson had leased the property from the original landowner, who was not immediately identified. The landowner had asked Hutchinson to vacate the property and later leased the property to businesswoman Evangeline Dizon-Danilo for 19 years.

Cuevas said the tension worsened after armed security guards were posted at the resort to harass the other claimants.

He warned all the contesting parties to instruct their armed security guards to leave the premises or all of them will be arrested.

“It’s a relief that the armed security guards left, so our policemen will stay there to maintain peace and order. It’s a legal issue and both parties should get directive from the court.” - Cecille Suerte Felipe