Come home to Ati Village — Malay Mayor Bautista

"You have a home there."

These are the fatherly words of Malay, Aklan Mayor Frolibar Bautista to the Ati tribe members who are still up in arms with the recent Department of Agrarian Reform's (DAR) decision to cancel their Certificate of Land Ownership Award (CLOA).

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

Mayor Bautista maintained that even though they were caught by surprise, they did what a Mayor should do to help their kababayans.

"What we did was we mobilized our municipal social welfare department to know what immediate help we can provide to the 44 Ati CLOA holders. We provided them 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.

Despite this, DAR Secretary Estrella maintained that "they are not heartless" as they are now providing solutions to the problem of the 44 affected indigenous peoples, as they are now identifying government-owned land that can be parceled, ranging the size from one to three hectares, to be distributed to each affected Ati member.

Mayor Bautista maintained that they cannot intervene in the decision made by DAR Secretary Estrella, who is under the Office of the President (OP).

Bautista then urged the Ati members to go back to the Ati village located in Barangay Manoc-manoc.

"The village is almost two hectares that were very conducive to them. Balik na sila dun," the Mayor of Malay urged.

Ati Village is situated on beachfront land that the tribe was granted in 2011 by a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title provided by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP).

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

Boracay Ati Community Development Complex consists of 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 meters situated in Sitio Angol, Barangay Manoc-manoc, which was included in the titled lands given to the Ati tribe, noted that some of the Ati members are not comfortable living and obeying what the nuns of Daughters of Charity are instructing them.

Atty. Florido even told this paper that these nuns are only using these Ati families "for picture-taking" purposes and they are not provided with proper sustenance, such as food supplies, among others.

"I don't know how to say this properly, but everything was orchestrated by a woman of the cloth," said Atty. Florida, pertaining to Sister Elvie.

Based on the Police Blotter 2024-04-0681 of the Boracay Philippine National Police (PNP), it said that "A certain Elvie and Roselyn Morales" instructed the three families who built makeshift huts inside the premises to come out of the said property and leave their minor children to make it look like they were held hostage.

Still, DAILY TRIBUNE is getting the side of "Sister Elvie" of the said congregation but she doesn't want to cooperate.