DENR cancels Masungi park developer contract

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has canceled its joint venture agreement with a private contractor and developer of the popular Masungi Georeserve for the establishment of a housing complex within the protected forest area in Tanay, Rizal.

At a press conference yesterday, DENR Assistant Secretary for legal affairs Norlito Enaran announced the cancellation of the department’s contract with Blue Star Construction Development Corp. and ordered the firm and the family controlling it to vacate the reservation area within 15 days.

Blue Star had been tapped to undertake the construction of 5,000 housing units for government employees within a 300-hectare forest area in Masungi.

In its decision, the DENR cited Blue Star’s reported contract violations, including the lack of required presidential proclamation allowing the housing project, absence of document to prove that the proposed construction went through regular procurement or bidding process, and failure to deliver the agreed-upon 5,000-unit garden cottages housing project within five years from signing of the contract on Nov. 15, 2002.

The DENR informed Blue Star owner and Masungi Georeserve proponent Ben Dumaliang of the reported contract breach in a letter. The DENR formed a special committee in July 2019 to review the 2002 contract.

“The department approved with finality the cancellation of the contract entered between the Blue Star and the DENR in connection with the land areas in Masungi in Tanay, Rizal,” Enaran said.

He explained that Blue Star initially signed a joint venture agreement with the DENR in 1997 for the survey, design, construction, development and marketing of a project called “garden cottages” on a 130-hectare government property in Tanay, Rizal.

“Blue Star was still able to secure a supplemental agreement in 2002 that even increased their project area to an additional 300 hectares, despite no substantial housing units built on the original 130 hectares awarded,” he added.

The intended beneficiaries of the housing units were employees of various government agencies including the DENR, Department of Education, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of National Defense, Department of Transportation, Office of the President and the Presidential Management Staff.

Enaran said that additional government housing units covered by the 2002 supplemental agreement were supposed to be located in Lot 10, where the Dumaliang family had built structures and currently operates the Masungi Georeserve, which the DENR official described as a “resort that charges visitors for day treks to caves, stone formations, trails and rope bridges.”

“The garden cottages, covered by the 1997 Joint Venture Agreement and which were originally intended as housing for government employees, are now venues for weddings and pre-nuptial shoots for which the Dumaliangs also charge a fee,” Enaran pointed out.

He said the DENR is ready to manage the Geopark even without Blue Star or the Dumaliangs.

“The general idea is for the DENR to take control of this area as well as other government agencies who have rights in these areas. Remember that this 300 hectares is now titled in favor of the Department of Justice through the Bureau of Corrections, 270 hectares are titled with Bureau of Corrections and the 30 hectares are titled with DENR regional office in Calabarzon,” he added.

He stressed that the DENR is empowered to cancel the contract and order the eviction of Blue Star and enforce laws, rules and regulations.

“No one has the monopoly when it comes to the protection and conservation of the environment. In fact, the mandate of DENR is to protect the environment, conserve, preserve the natural resources of the country,” he maintained.

“Nobody has a monopoly. In fact, the local government unit also has the mandate to protect the environment… No one is above the law. If you violate the law, the government will act on it, that’s the message we want to convey,” he added.

He also revealed the existence of a 2008 Memorandum of Agreement with Blue Star allowing the latter to build 145 housing units in the 1.5-hectare Pueblocillo Village in Dasmariñas, Cavite to compensate for its failure to deliver on its promise to build 5,000 housing units in Masungi and develop a community center school site, as well as establish right of way for access roads and water mains, among other improvements.