Investors, resort owners can't get titles in Boracay - SC

MANILA, Philippines - Resort owners and other investors in the island resort of Boracay can not apply for titles for the land they are presently occupying, a Supreme Court ruling said. In a 35-page unanimous decision, the high court maintained that Boracay remains unclassified land of the public domain and is thus considered public forest under Presidential Decree No. 705. The ruling was penned by Justice Ruben T. Reyes. "The continued possession and considerable investment of private claimants do not automatically give them a vested right in Boracay. Nor do these give them a right to apply for a title to the land they are presently occupying,” the Court said. It explained that Boracay remained under such classification despite the issuance of Proclamation 1801 in 1978 by then President Ferdinand Marcos because it merely declared the island resort and other islands tourist zone or marine reserve. The Court, however, said that while private claimants are ineligible to apply for title, this does not mean their automatic ouster from the residential, commercial and other areas they posses now classified as agricultural. Neither will this mean the loss of their substantial investments on their occupied alienable lands.” “Lack of title does not necessarily mean lack of right to possess,” the Court said. The high court also said Congress can pass a law entitling the claimants to acquire titles to the lots they occupy or grant them exemptions to current rules that bar them from ownership. “More realistically, congress may enact a law to entitle private claimants to acquire title to their occupied lots or to exempt them from certain requirements under the present land laws,” it said. - GMANews.TV