Church urges Philippines government to bring killer of tribal leader to justice

Manila: The death of a tribal leader in a famed Central Philippines island resort has prompted a Church leader to call on the government to look into the extrajudicial killing.

Archbishop Sergio Utleg, chair of the Episcopal Commission on Indigenous Peoples, said the slaying of Dexter Condez last February 22 in Boracay, was apparently connected with a land dispute with a private firm involving ancestral domain claim of the Atis tribe in the island.

Reports said Condez, 26, was shot to death by an assassin on the evening of February 22 as he was on his way home to the Atis’ ancestral domain in Barangay Manoc-manoc after attending a meeting.

Condez is a leader of the local Atis tribe and was active in fighting for the rights of indigenous peoples for their ancestral domain.

“We condemn in the strongest possible manner this brutal killing and we are calling for an immediate and thorough investigation to identify the perpetuator and the masterminds,” Utleg said in a statement.

Utleg urged the government of President Benigno Aquino to take action to solve the case of Condez and other victims of extra judicial killings.

Once a lonely island populated mainly by Atis and Malay-stock locals before the 1970s, Boracay, located in the province of Aklan, had developed by leaps and bounds into a prime vacation destination. It is known internationally and is visited by millions of local and international tourists every year. But along with perceived development, comes the displacement of the indigenous populations from their ancestral habitat.

Condez had served as spokesperson of the Ati people against those who oppose their ancestral domain claims.

On August 3, 2010, the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) has issued a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title for the Atis community which was later registered with the Land Registration Authority

Members of Boracay Atis Tribal Organisation settled themselves in the 2.1-hectare CADT lot in the village of Manoc-manoc.

But even with a government-issued certificate and assistance from legitimate government agencies, several interest groups and clans insisted that the Atis people are not the owners of the land.

“Threats and intimidations against the Atis occurred several times since they lawfully occupied their land. There will be no peace for the Ati people of Boracay until the issue of their ancestral domain is fully resolved and justice is done for their fallen leader,” Utleg furthered.

Religious organisations helping the Atis lamented an earlier incident when a group of 20 armed men who were allegedly employees of Crown Regency Boracay destroyed parts of a perimeter fence of the Atis community on November 4, 2012.

Armed with shotguns and handguns, the security guards allegedly entered the area by force and threatened the indigenous peoples.

Boracay was once a lonely island until it was developed as a tourist spot during the 1970. Now, the island is known internationally for its powdery white sand and regularly figures in global surveys of top beaches.