ILOILO CITY — The Ati village in Boracay on Monday expressed excitement for the reopening of the island this October 26.
More than two months since it was closed to tourists for the ongoing six-month rehabilitation, the island is now somehow back to its original clean environment, said Delsa Justo, tribal leader of Boracay’s Ati community in the village of Manocmanoc.
“It was slowly restored. We can see that it is now back to its past. It is beautiful,” she told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) in an interview.
Living in Boracay for 58 years now, Justo recalled that the island used to be peaceful and less populated.
But she also recognized that they have already adjusted to the developments and the influx of tourists in the island over the years.
“We were already used to see the island with many people,” she said. “That is why we are excited to open this island again.”
Justo is also excited to see President Rodrigo Duterte, who is expected to visit the island in the coming days. “I heard he will be coming. We will be happy to see him,” she said.
In the previous statements of Duterte, he said he wanted a committee to identify the landowners of Boracay island and return the land to its “rightful owners.”
He also insisted to declare the island as land reform area after the rehabilitation.
“If it will push through, I could now bring back my farmland. I want to show to my children what we used to do before,” she said.
Meantime, the closure of the island since April 26 has also affected the livelihood of the Ati village composed of more or less 50 families, said Justo.
The village is known to make body soap made out of fruit extracts, especially papaya, as its main source of livelihood.
Some of them were also sewers and handicrafts workers. They have already formed Boracay Ati Tribal Multi-Purpose Cooperative composed of 40 members.
Justo said that the reopening of the island would mean regaining their customers.
“I hope the reopening of Boracay will really push through so we would also be at ease. We have livelihood and we need tourists,” she said.
For the meantime, several residents from the Ati village are contributing to the ongoing cleanup of the island.
Some are beneficiaries of the Cash for Work Program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and some are being helped by the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disavantaged/Displaced (TUPAD) Workers program of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) wherein they work for 30-day period and are paid equivalent to minimum wage of PHP9,700.
Justo expressed her appreciation to various departments for helping them avail of the programs although they find it hard to comply with the requirements needed.
“We do not have any idea how to enter to the programs but they really assisted us,” she said.
Last July 7, DSWD in Western Visayas distributed food packs to families in the village.
Each beneficiary received two food packs containing 10 assorted canned goods and six kilos of rice consumable in two weeks.
The department also planned to deploy personnel at the Ati village this week to survey the livelihood they need.
The Ati village is located at the 2.1-hectare ancestral domain of Sitio Lugutan,village of Manocmanoc. (Cindy Ferrer/PNA)
