CARP beneficiaries installed in Boracay property

MANILA, Philippines — Thirty-one agrarian reform beneficiaries have been installed in two landholdings on Boracay Island in Malay, Aklan, following a brief tension between authorities and security officers of a private agency.

Accompanied by a team composed of police officers and officials of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR)-Western Visayas and provincial agrarian reform office, the beneficiaries successfully entered the property, with a total combined area of 1.98 hectare, located in Barangay Manoc-manoc over the weekend.

The property, declared under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) by Presidet Duterte, were awarded to members of the Boracay Tumandok Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Association (BTARBA) on March 20.

The beneficiaries were not immediately able to occupy the property as watchmen from a private company prevented them from entering the area, the DAR said.

Tension escalated when the watchmen prevented a team led by DAR-Western Visayas legal chief Geony Licera-Gregorio from entering the property.

A representative from the security agency ordered the watchmen to stand down and allowed entry to the combined team of DAR officials and policemen.

The installation came at a time when the beneficiaries’ old dwellings were set for demolition as part of the government’s rehabilitation efforts for the tourist destination.