‘Come home to Ati village’

“You have a home there.” These were the words of MalayAklan Mayor Frolibar Bautistato the Ati tribe members who are still up in arms over the recent Department of Agrarian Reform decision to cancel their Certificate of Land Ownership Award.

“The village is almost two hectares, which is very conducive to them. They should go back there,” Bautista said, referring to the Ati village in Barangay Manoc-manoc.

DAR Undersecretary for Legal Affairs Napoleon Galit earlier told the DAILY TRIBUNE the Ati tribe had filed a Petition for Certiorari at the Court of Appeals, questioning the decision of DAR Secretary Conrado Estrella voiding their CLOAs.

Bautista maintained that even though they were surprised, he did what a mayor should do to help their “kababayans.”

“What we did was mobilize our municipal social welfare department to check what immediate help we could provide to the 44 Ati CLOA holders. We provided them with the necessary assistance,” he said on the sidelines of the first day of the Boracay Business Forum in Mega Paraw, Barangay Nabaoy, Malay, Aklan on Thursday.

DAR Secretary Estrella said, “They are not heartless,” as they were providing solutions to the problems of the 44 affected indigenous people. They are now identifying government-owned land that could be parceled, ranging in size from one to three hectares, to be distributed to each affected Ati member.

Mayor Bautista said they cannot intervene in the decision of Secretary Estrella, who is under the Office of the President.

The Ati village, situated on beachfront land, was granted to the tribe in 2011 through a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title provided by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples.

The Ati and the Tumandok, the island’s initial settlers, were relocated to a 2.1-hectare walled settlement in the early 2000s when the island was transformed into a popular tourist destination.

The Boracay Ati Community Development Complex comprises 30 homes, a ceremonial field, a heritage building, a tribal hall and training center, a school, a clinic, and a chapel.

Earlier, lawyer Victoria Lim-Florido, representing the landowner of the disputed 1,282-square meter lot situated in Sitio Angol, Barangay Manoc-manoc, which was included in the titled lands given to the Ati tribe in 2018, noted that some of the Ati members were not comfortable obeying the instructions of the nuns of the Daughters of Charity.

Florido told this paper the nuns were only using the Ati families “for picture-taking” purposes, and they were not provided with proper sustenance, such as food supplies, among other things.

“I don’t know how to say this properly, but everything was orchestrated by a woman of the cloth,” said Florida, pertaining to a certain Sister Elvie.

Based on the police blotter of the Boracay-Philippine National Police, it said that “a certain Elvie and Roselyn Morales” instructed the three families who built makeshift huts on the premises to come out of the said property and leave their minor children to make it look like they were being held hostage.

DAILY TRIBUNE tried getting the side of “Sister Elvie” but has not responded until press time.