Duterte to place Boracay under land reform

The entire island of Boracay will be a land reform area and will be given to farmers once the six-month rehabilitation of the area is done, President Rodrigo Duterte said Monday.

"You want to know now? I'm going to give the announcement. It's going to be a land reform area for the Filipino," he said in a press conference in Davao City before flying to China.

Duterte earlier this month approved the recommendation to temporarily close the world famous island for six months to make way for its rehabilitation starting April 26.

The recommendation was made by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Department of Tourism, and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) last month after Duterte threatened to close down the island, which he described as a "cesspool."

"I-land reform ko na 'yan, mas mabuti pa. I'll tell you now. I-land reform ko lahat 'yan then I'll give it to the farmers," Duterte said.

Citing the law, Duterte said Boracay has been declared as an agricultural and forestal area and therefore needs to be a land reform area.

"The law says it is forestal, agricultural. Why would I deviate from that? Do I have a good reason?" he said.

"Lilinisin ko lang naman, ibalik ko sa Filipino 'yung mga lupa nila," Duterte added.

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) earlier said the six-month closure of the island would at most have a 0.1-percent effect on the gross domestic product (GDP), but this could have "significant" effects on the local economy. —KBK, GMA News