Flat lands around Chocolate Hills open to farming

TAGBILARAN CITY — Looking for flat lands to cultivate, Boholanos may now harness those around and in between the Chocolate Hills without destroying the world-famous tourist landmark.

This, as President Arroyo amended Proclamation 468 dated Sept. 26, 1994, in effect, declaring the tracts of land surrounding the hills as no longer part of the national monument.

"As your President, I know that this lack of flat lands has caused much poverty and unrest in central Bohol," she told Boholanos as she witnessed Thursday’s re-enactment of the Sandugo or the blood compact between native chieftain Datu Sikatuna and Spanish conquistador Miguel Lopez de Legazpi.

Mrs. Arroyo signed the amended proclamation midway her speech in the dialect at the Carlos P. Garcia Sports Complex here.

But Presidential Management Staff Undersecretary Ricardo Saludo said Boholanos should ensure that areas that have to be preserved are preserved while those that could be developed would be excluded from the national monument and classified as inalienable and disposable land.

Mrs. Arroyo said her administration’s policy for farmers "is for them to work on flat lands and promote agricultural modernization." — Marichu Villanueva