Boracay’s return to ‘rightful owners’ assured

President Rodrigo Duterte yesterday said he will return areas in the island resort of Boracay to their rightful owners after its rehabilitation.

“Now the problem is how to determine who owns what,” said Duterte. “So there has to be a committee to be fair to everybody.”

Duterte said every stakeholder, from the local government to property owners, will have to come together to sort out ownership by looking at the titles.

The President made the remark during the 31st anniversary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) at the Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife Center in Quezon City.

Duterte reiterated he has no plan of opening the island to big businesses such as casino resorts.

“My stand is that Boracay has never been open to any commercial exploitation. I will not allow gambling, I will not even give it to big business,” said Duterte.

“Let us determine first who owns the place. If there is any title. And if it gets to be muddy, to really dwell into it and question everything,” he added.

Duterte stressed that to maintain Boracay’s viability, “it is our moral obligation to make it clean, hygienic and safe.”

“We banner it throughout the world: ‘Go to Boracay,’ and it’s full of s***,” he pointed out.

The President said he plans to subject portions of Boracay to land reform while living a strip for commercial establishments.

“I would leave it to Congress to decide. That’s up to Congress to decide how much Boracay can handle. It cannot handle so much people.”