Despite being criticized by a farmers’ group for his “obsessive fixation” in declaring Boracay Island as agricultural land, President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday declared the iconic tourist destination as a “land reform area” and vowed to fulfill his promise to give the island back to its rightful owners.
“I am declaring land reform in the entire island of Boracay,” Duterte said as he attended the condemnation of smuggled luxury vehicles at the Bureau of Customs in Manila.
“Let’s push it to the limit. Give it [back] to the people,” the President said.
Also, Task Force Boracay, the inter-agency task force in charge of the six-month rehabilitation of Boracay island, estimated that P1.36 billion is needed to finance various efforts and cleanup works on the island.
Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said this fund would shoulder the cost of providing social safety nets, ensuring health and sanitation, decongesting the island, enforcing rule of law, engaging stakeholders, and crafting and implementing a Medium-Term Rehabilitation and Recovery Program.
The budget will be sourced from the funds of government agencies involved, Diokno added. Such funds may also be sourced from the government’s Contingent Fund or the Calamity Fund.
Should agency programs and projects for Boracay spill over into 2019, as expected by Diokno, agencies may opt to propose their Tier-2 budget proposals for the Fiscal Year 2019 budget.
But Antonio Flores, secretary general of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, called the President’s plan hypocritical.
“The Department of Agrarian Reform and Duterte remain fixated on Boracay, while haciendas remain intact,” he said.
Meanwhile, Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu threatened to sanction polluters of Boracay and to file criminal charges against them.
He said owners and operators of establishments that own the newly-discovered underground sewers and pipelines illegally discharging waste into the waters of the island shall face hefty fines and criminal cases.
“We will not hesitate to file appropriate charges against these erring establishments and base these charges on all the violations we can possibly identify against them, with maximum penalty, for contributing to the deterioration of Boracay,” Cimatu said. The 1,032-hectare island was shut down for six months on Duterte’s orders to be cleaned and rehabilitated.
Among the problems in the island, which Duterte said has become a “cesspool,” is a rudimentary sewerage system and commercial establishments occupying of forest lands.
Duterte said Boracay, under the law, is classified as a forestland and agricultural land, and he would implement the law.
“Why would I deviate from that?” he said.
However, to maintain the commercial quality of Boracay, Congress might cut a strip of land and put an easement of about 30 meters, Duterte added.
The President also called on Congress to provide parameters on how much of the world-famous summer destination would be given back to the resorts, hotels and other businesses already on it.
Declaring Boracay as a land reform area and giving it to the people would need an act from Congress, he said.
“But I don’t mind Congress, I would suggest if you really want to maintain the commercial quality of that place, maybe you can cut a strip [out of the agricultural lands],” the President said.