By Genalyn Kabiling
President Duterte is seeking clear-cut parameters on which portions of Boracay would be allowed for agricultural and commercial use.
The President said he would ask Congress to delineate the land use of Boracay amid his plans to declare a vast part of the island into an agrarian reform area.
“We will just delineate a certain portion there but the rest of the island will be declared a land reform area.
Ibigay ko muna sa mga tao doon,” he said during the groundbreaking ceremony of a new government housing project in Negros Occidental last Sunday.
“I’ll leave it to Congress to decide. I like to have a clear-cut parameter of how much would be given to business back,” he added.
Duterte said businesses could have “a few strips there as back to business” but the rest of the area would remain forestal and agricultural land.
“‘Yung negosyo ninyo diyan, ang frontage lang naman ang kailangan ninyo. You do not need to go inland to build more and give it to the people there, to the natives,” he said.
“Just keep the trees there…don’t touch it but you can have some sort of a farming. Agricultural lahat ‘yan and most of the flat areas will be given to the people,” he added.
The pollution-stricken Boracay is currently closed down to tourists amid the government-led rehabilitation efforts, including upgrading of sewage system and dismantling of illegal structures. The island shutdown ends on October 25.