The Department of Agrarian Reform plans to present in the next Cabinet meeting two proposals that would implement agrarian reform on Boracay Island.
DAR Secretary John Castriciones is expected to discuss such proposals during the scheduled Cabinet meeting on Monday (June 11), said Undersecretary David Erro.
“The first proposal is an executive order covering Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ turnover of agrarian reform-coverable Boracay land to DAR so we can implement agrarian reform there,” Erro said Monday (June 4) at a press conference.
He noted that the order authorizes DAR to mobilize some agencies for agrarian-related activities, such as demolishing structures in coverable Boracay areas, if necessary.
The second proposal is delineating the strip of land where structures in Boracay will be allowed to remain so other areas in the island can be allocated for agrarian reform, Erro said.
The land strip will border Boracay’s seas and circle the island—leaving this top tourist destination’s inner or middle portion available for agrarian reform, he said.
“The government will determine the strip’s width to be measured inwards beginning at shores of Boracay,” he said. Structures outside the strip will be disallowed, he said.
Erro said DAR has started consulting agricultural engineers about interventions for promoting crop-planting on Boracay Island. These interventions include placing top soil, about 0.30 meters to 0.90 meters deep, in areas where needed so people can plant there, he said.
Top soil is the upper layer of native soil and contains the highest concentration of organic matter beneficial to plants, said experts.