DENR: No demolition of structures in Boracay

Environment Secretary Lito Atienza assured Boracay residents yesterday that their structures will not be demolished outright despite a Supreme Court decision declaring that the resort island belongs to the state.

After a dialogue with stakeholders in Quezon City on Tuesday, Atienza said Boracay will be subjected to a cadastral survey to determine the bounds of alienable and disposable lands and forestland.

Investors must be wary of unscrupulous real estate developers selling untitled properties on areas that may be classified as protected areas, he added.

The government would like to approach the issue of land ownership in Boracay in favor of “builders in good faith,” he added. 

Atienza said a committee comprised of representatives from different interest groups in Boracay would work with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to find ways to facilitate the titling of land in certain portions of Boracay.

“The directive of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is clear: We don’t want to demolish structures outright,” he said.

Atienza said the government does not intend to take over properties in Boracay.

“Everyone has a stake on Boracay’s future as the country’s top tourist attraction and the government has the duty and responsibility to protect the environment of the island guided by the principle of sustainable development and strict observance of the law,” he said.

Atienza said the government will thresh out all issues in the implementation of the SC decision.

“(The government) will not push you against the wall without any option, but to give you preferential right to the land you are occupying,” he said.

Stakeholders who attended the dialogue were happy with the action of the government.

Dr. Orlando Sacay of the Boracay Foundation Inc. said the dialogue “allayed fears” of resort owners and investors regarding the fate of their properties in Boracay.

“It was very good for the government to have established the dialogue with stakeholders,” he said.

“This dialogue allayed fears of a lot of people. Many issues were raised during the dialogue, and I believe that we have reached an agreement on the proper manner to have the issues resolved.”

Last Oct. 8, the SC affirmed Proclamation 1064 classifying 60.94 percent of the 1,032 hectares in Boracay Island or 628.96 hectares as alienable and disposable, and declared the remaining area as forestland that cannot be disposed by the state.

The SC ruled that Boracay belongs to the state, and that the current residents cannot claim ownership of parcels of land based on years of occupation.

However, Congress may enact a law to allow private claimants to acquire title to the lots they have been occupying or to exempt them from certain legal requirements, the decision added.

Private claimants cannot apply for judicial confirmation of imperfect title under Commonwealth Act 141, the Public Land Act and neither do they have vested rights over the lands they occupy, according to the decision.

The SC said under CA 141, the two requisites for judicial confirmation of imperfect or incomplete title are:

• Open, continuous, exclusive, and notorious possession and occupation of the subject land by himself or through his predecessors-in-interest under a bona fide claim of ownership since time immemorial; and

• Classification of the land as alienable and disposable land of the public domain.

However, the SC said it does not mean that private claimants can be evicted from the residential, commercial, and other areas they now occupy in Boracay.

The SC reversed and set aside the decision of the Court of Appeals affirming the ruling of the Aklan Regional Trial Court granting the petition for declaratory relief filed by Mayor Jose Yap, Libertad Talapian, Mila Sumndad, and Aniceto Yap, for the survey of Boracay for titling purposes.

The SC also upheld the validity of Proclamation 1064, issued by President Arroyo on May 22, 2006 classifying Boracay as reserved forest and agricultural land.

Prior to Proclamation 1064, Boracay was an unclassified land of the public domain, which is considered public forest under Presidential Decree 705, the decision added.

However, the SC said Proclamation 1801 issued by President Ferdinand Marcos in 1978, or the Philippine Tourism Authority Circular 3-82, did not convert the whole of Boracay into an agricultural land, as it covers not only Boracay but also 64 other islands, coves, and peninsulas in the Philippines.

It was Proclamation 1064 which declared parts of Boracay as alienable and opened them to private ownership, the SC said.