Office of the President of the Philippines

NATIONAL ANTI-POVERTY COMMISSION

3rd Floor, Agricultural Training Institute Building,

Department of Agriculture, Elliptical Road, Quezon City Trunk lines 4264956, 4264965, 4265019, 4265028, Fax 9279838

26 February 2013

PRESS STATEMENT

NAPC calls for justice for slain Ati leader, an end to impunity

The Indigenous Peoples Council of the National Anti-Poverty Commission has gathered

to condemn the latest violence visited upon the Ati of Boracay and to call for an end to

impunity.

Dexter Condez, the 26-year-old leader and spokesman of the Ati living on the globally

popular tourist island destination, was gunned down late evening Friday as he was headed

home with two other companions. They had just come from a meeting with the nuns of

the Holy Rosary Parish Ati Mission (HRPAM).

“Dexter’s murder is a shameful, treacherous act,” said Guillermo Vicente, Sr., an elder of

the Ati who is now in Manila to attend the National Sectors Meeting of the NAPC this

weekend and to gather support for his peoples cause in Boracay.

“We are full of sorrow but we are also very, very angry. Dexter deserves justice; the Ati

demand justice,” Vicente, Sr. said.

Joel Rocamora, NAPC secretary threw in NAPC’s support behind the beleaguered Ati

community in Boracay.

“This is the time when we should not only be fighting against poverty, we should also

face down violence,” he said.

“This is also a wake-up call for the government to end impunity. Justice must be served

or Dexter’s murder will set us back in the eyes of the sectors we are working with, as well

as in the eyes of the global human rights community. And so, let Dexter’s death continue

our resolve to push for the rights of the poor and the marginalized,” he added.

The IP Council leaders also welcomed reports of President Aquino’s efforts in pressing

the Philippine National Police to effect an arrest.

“If the President is with us on this, we will hopefully see the perpetrators behind bars very

soon,” said Judith Maranes, one of the NAPC IP Council leaders.

The President’s sister, Viel Aquino-Dee, is vice chair of the Assisi Development

Foundation, which has been assisting the Ati community in Boracay. “Mam Viel was just

here a few days ago,” said Sr. Hermie of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul.

“Binigyan n’ya ng pag-asa ang mga Ati. Sabi niya, itutuloy at itutuloy ang Boracay

Development Project ng Assisi Foundation para sa kanila.”

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3rd Floor, Agricultural Training Institute Building,

Department of Agriculture, Elliptical Road, Quezon City Trunk lines 4264956, 4264965, 4265019, 4265028, Fax 9279838

The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples had issued the Certificate of Ancestral

Domain Title (CADT) to the Boracay Ati through their organization, BATO, in August

2010. The title was subsequently registered with the Land Registration Agency three

months later and awarded to the Ati in January 2011.

But two years later, most of the 200 Ati have still not been able to settle on their land for

fear of harassment and eviction from three other claimants to the property.

Just four months ago, at least 20 security guards of Cebu-based J. King and Sons Co. Inc,

armed with shotguns and hand guns, were sent to the Ati community along the beach in

Barangay Manoc-Manoc to destroy parts of a perimeter fence put up by the tribe. No one

was hurt but the incident left the Ati terrified.

The J. King and Sons Co. Inc., operates three hotels on the 1,038-hectare Boracay Island,

including the Crown Regency Resort and Convention Center.

At two hectares (2.05 has.), the land awarded to the Ati could very well be the smallest

CADT awarded to any indigenous group in the Philippines. What gives?

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