Philippines Property News
Boracay land survey now ongoing
By Nestor P. Burgos Jr.
Inquirer Visayas
First Posted 15:01:00 08/08/2009
BORACAY ISLAND, Aklan, Philippines—The occupants and claimants of land on Boracay may have their prized property titled soon after the Department of Environment and Natural Resources on Friday announced the start of a cadastral survey of the island.
In a meeting with business owners and property claimants here Friday night, Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Jose “Lito” Atienza Jr. said the survey, which would identify property lines, would be the basis for the issuance of titles for areas classified as alienable and disposable.
The field survey which will start on Monday and cover the whole 1,032-hectare island is expected to be completed within five months.
Only about a third of the land on Boracay has titles while the rest is occupied through tax declarations after the island resort was declared government property.
Atienza said the survey was in line with a Supreme Court ruling on land ownership on the island.
In its ruling issued on October 8, 2008, the Supreme Court affirmed Proclamation 1064 issued by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on May 22, 2006 which classified 628.96 hectares or 60.94 percent of the 1,032-hectare island as alienable and disposable on the premise that the whole of Boracay was government property.
The proclamation also provides for a 15-meter buffer zone on each side of the center line of roads and trails, which are reserved for right of way and which shall form part of the area reserved for forest land protection purposes.
Land claimants and owners who have invested hundreds of millions of pesos for decades on the island had feared that they might lose their property to other investors because of the proclamation and Supreme Court ruling.
But in Friday’s meeting with property claimants, Atienza assured those with legitimate claims and investments that their rights would be respected.
“We want to substantially comply with the Supreme Court ruling but will ensure not to drastically affect businesses and investments,” Atienza told around 25 representatives of business owners and property claimants at a dinner meeting held at the Boracay Mandarin Island Hotel.
Atienza said titled lands would be respected in the titling of properties while those covered by tax declarations would be reviewed to check on when and how the declarations were acquired.
He also announced that the DENR has formed a new task force to handle the land titling and other concerns of Boracay investors.
The task force, headed by Demetrio Ignacio Jr., DENR undersecretary for policy and planning, will coordinate with an 11-member committee of Boracay stakeholders on the implementation of the survey and land titling.
The committee includes representatives of the Boracay Foundation Inc. and the Boracay Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
During the dialogue, a group of property claimants led by resort owner Lara Salaver submitted a written appeal for DENR to reevaluate, reassess and reclassify certain areas identified in Presidential Proclamation 1064.
The property claimants, however, welcomed the start of the survey as “a big step forward” in the titling of properties.
Resort owner and former BFI chair Orlando Sacay told the Inquirer that the titling of land would assure investors that their properties could not be taken away.
He said the tentative land titling status of lots on the island has deterred many investors from coming in despite the island’s booming tourist industry.
Sacay said this would also significantly help in the resolution of land conflicts between claimants. The conflicts have intensified in recent years and even erupted in sometimes deadly violence.
Boracay Land Titles - Palace supports Boracay resort owners’ bid to have lands titled
October 29, 2008
THE DAILY TRIBUNE
Malacañang has assured resort and hotel owners on Boracay Island that President Arroyo is supporting their intention to secure titles for the land they are currently occupying.
Executive Secretary Eauardo Ermita said the President has instructed concerned government agencies to hold dialogues and come out with a solution in the wake of the Supreme Court (SC) decision declaring the entire island a government property.
The Court affirmed Proclamation 1064, issued two years ago by Arroyo, declaring the island resort into 400 hectares of reserved forestland and 628.96 hectares of agricultural land. However, the Court said the resort and hotel owners and those residing in the island need not vacate the area at once and instead can own the land that they are occupying through a congressional act or strike a special scheme with the government.
Ermita admitted that President Arroyo wants to resolve the issue through a congressional act. He added government agencies like the Departments of Agriculture and of the Environment and Natural Resources were instructed to consult with the residents and investors on Boracay to craft solutions acceptable to all the parties.
“We are aware of the desire of the residents and resort and hotel owners to have the lands they occupy titled. We support their wish and we are now consulting with [Liberal Party] Rep. [Florencio] Miraflores [of Aklan] on how to achieve this,” Ermita said.
The SC, in a landmark ruling early this month, settled once and for all the issue of land ownership in Boracay, sustaining the right of possessors on classified agricultural land to apply for registration of ownership or title to the property which they currently occupy.
Majority, if not all, of the existing resorts and tourism establishments fall within the classified agricultural land of Boracay available for registration and titling under applicable laws.
The Court, in upholding the validity of Proclamation 1064 which classifies 400 hectares of Boracay Island as forestland and 628 hectares as agricultural, said that “in issuing the proclamation, the government has taken the step necessary to open up the island to private ownership except on areas in the island classified as forestland.”
In its decision, the SC said Congress may enact a law to entitle private claimants to acquire titles to the lots they occupy or to exempt them from certain legal requirements.
Ermita disclosed that the Palace is also amenable for other courses to support the desire of the resort and hotel owners like special schemes that would relax certain rules on applying for land title.
Chinese tourists to troop to Kalibo
By MARS W. MOSQUEDA JR.
July 23, 2009
KALIBO, Aklan – Philippine tourism is on an upsurge, despite the global financial crisis and anxieties caused by negative reports about the flu virus, A (H1N1), with flights from two cities in the Chinese mainland to Kalibo, capital of Aklan province and gateway to the country’s premier tourist destination, Boracay Island, set to start next week.
In an exclusive interview, Tourism Undersecretary for Planning and Promotions Edu Jarque told Manila Bulletin that twice-weekly chartered flights will be taking off from Shanghai and Hangzhou, bringing in at least 300 Chinese tourists to Kalibo, beginning next week.
The chartered flights from Shanghai, China’s largest city with a population of over 20 million will be carried out by Shanghai Airlines starting July 26, while flights from Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang Province, will be carried out by Philippine Airlines starting July 27.
Jarque said the Department of Tourism (DoT) has been extending assistance, promoting the chartered flights, to ensure such flights will take place on a regular basis.
“We have to give these tourists a good experience when they come here so that when they fly back home, they will be talking about the place. It’s a sort of an advertisement,” said Jarque, who stressed that Tourism Secretary Ace Durano has been promoting chartered flights to bring in tourists from new markets.
Durano has been tapping markets around the region, which means cheaper fare for tourists because of the proximity of the destinations.
Jarque said the DoT is also working hand-in-hand with the Bureau of Immigration, the Bureau of Customs, and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines to give the tourists with a hassle-free experience when then visit the country.
The first few flights of the chartered trips have already been filled to capacity, said Jarque, and the DoT is hopeful that the flights will go on beyond the target month of December, during which period the flights will be assessed and possibly extended if successful.
The first flights from Shanghai and Hangzhou will include Chinese media who will be writing about Kalibo and its different tourist attractions, including world-famous Boracay Island.
Jarque said the Chinese tourists and media will have a good time visiting Kalibo’s attractions, including its beaches, land and water-based activities, its nightlife, culture and history, and the warmth of its people.
“They will surely have a lot of good things to talk about when they get back to their cities,” said Jarque, who added that the tourists will have varied hotel choices of hotels for their stay in Kalibo.
Meanwhile, Jarque said the chartered flight from Kaohsiung, Taiwan to Cebu has been doing well, bringing in 150 tourists per flight.
The Kaoshiung-Cebu direct flight started July 13 and will run until September, with option to continue, said Jarque.
Also, twice-weekly chartered flights from Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong in China, to Cebu commenced last July 19, further boosting Cebu’s vibrant tourism industry.
Jarque said the inaugural flight through China Southern Airlines was sold out, with more Chinese tourists from the largest city in one of China’s wealthiest provinces inquiring about the chartered flights.
“The chartered flights that we now have means that the (global) financial crisis and the A(H1N1) flu scare have little or no effect at all to our healthy tourism industry,” said Jarque.
SC ruling on Boracay. Investors hail SC ruling on Boracay
October 16, 2008
THE DAILY TRIBUNE
Civic and business groups in Boracay Island hailed the recent Supreme Court (SC) decision on the issue of land ownership in the country’s top tourist destination as “the single most significant step to boost the country’s bid in becoming a premier tourist spot among other Asian destinations.”
“Investors’ confidence will definitely be boosted by this landmark (decision)since the legitimacy of land ownership and possession will finally be resolved,” said Jocielo Ramirez, a former director of the United Nations World Food Program.
As one of the possessors and stakeholders in Boracay Island, Ramirez said that he sees a better future for Boracay as serious investors will have a different perspective about their investment plans for the island.
Ramirez was reacting to a story which came out in The Tribune the other day saying that the recent SC ruling that Boracay is a public domain had “created” serious concerns and confusion among the stakeholders and individual investors in the island.”
Under the Torrens Title System of the government, the land which is properly titled prior to 1975 is exempt from the SC ruling, Fairways and Bluewater Resort complex said in a statement yesterday.
The SC ruled that except for lands already covered by titles issued in 1975 under Presidential Decree 705, or the Forestry Reform Code of the Philippines, the whole Boracay Island belongs to the government.
In a decision penned by Associate Justice Ruben Reyes, the SC upheld the validity of Proclamation 1064 that classified Boracay into 400 hectares of reserved forest land and 628.96 hectares of agricultural land.
Fairways and Bluewater, the largest single land owner in Boracay with its 120-hectare holdings, belongs to this exempt category. The subject property has the original title issued in 1993 which was subsequently acquired by Fil-Estate Properties Inc. in the early 1990s.
He explained that as soon as the issue on property rights and ownership are settled, the re-development of Boracay will be set in motion. Proper environmental protection and related programs will be re-established to compliment world-class facilities that will be built in the island, he added.
The SC, in a landmark ruling early this month, settled once and for all the issue of land ownership in Boracay, sustaining the right of possessors on classified agricultural land to apply for registration of ownership or title to the property which they currently occupy.
