ILOILO City – Insisting that Boracay is a forestal and agricultural land, President Rodrigo Duterte said he only wanted a portion of the island used for commercial purposes, such as tourism.
“You know, ‘yung Boracay is a forestal agriculture [land]. Do not push me to the wall. Kasi hindi pa commercial ‘yan. Hindi pa rin residential,” Duterte said in a speech in Mulanay, Quezon on Wednesday.
The President added that because he is not keen on turning Boracay into a commercial area, he would only be willing to dedicate a portion of the island for tourism.
“I am not in favor of converting it into a commercial. So we can have a portion there may be ‘yung mga hotels na…If that is really the will of Congress na hindi naman matuluyan mamatay talaga ang Boracay,” Duterte said.
He added that he would instruct his Cabinet and the Congress to study putting up “only a small area for tourism” in Boracay.
If tourism stakeholders would not agree with his conditions, he would proceed to implement land reform in the entire island, the President stressed.
“Kung hindi tayo magkaintindihan dito, i-land reform ko lahat ‘yan. Ibigay ko sa tao ‘yan. Tutal ang yayaman diyan ‘yung may-ari ng mga hotel,” he said.
So far, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) has identified 15.5 hectares of land in Boracay to be agricultural, ready to be subjected to the government’s Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.
DAR acting secretary John Castriciones earlier said his agency is just waiting for Duterte to give the go-signal to start implementing agrarian reform in the famed beach destination.
Duterte, meanwhile, denied that he has a hidden agenda for ordering the temporary six-month closure of Boracay that began April 26.
“Wala akong agenda. Matanda na ako. Hindi na ako makatakbo. Last term ko na ‘to,” Duterte said.
The President also appealed to island closure critics to allow the government to do its job to fully rehabilitate Boracay.
He also vowed to allow Congress to decide to declare the island as forestal, agricultural or commercial.
“Ganito lang. Linisin ko ‘yan, pagkatapos ibalik ko. Ibalik ko sa gobyerno, hindi sa amin. Then I’ll let Congress decide kung anong gusto ninyo,” Duterte said. (With reports from PNA and ABS-CBN News/PN)
