House probe into resort construction underway

CEBU, Philippines — The Makabayan bloc has filed a House resolution seeking to investigate the construction of a resort in the vicinity of Chocolate Hills in Bohol which was declared global geological park by UNESCO and a national protected landscape.

In House Resolution No.  1638, Partylist Representatives Arlene Brosas of Gabriela, France Castro of ACT-TEACERS and Raoul Manuel of Kabataan have asked the Committee on Natural Resources to do the probe “in aid of legislation.”

“The construction of the Captain’s Park Resort near the Chocolate Hills raises serious questions on the enforcement of regulatory mechanisms of the national government and local government, as well as on the possible infraction on several laws and issuances by the Department Environmental and Natural Resources (DENR),” the resolution reads.

According to Brosas, it was clear that DENR “failed to ensure that the resort complied with the closure order issued last September 2023.”

“It is important to scrutinize how such construction was permitted in an area which is supposedly safeguarded by environmental regulations,” she said.

Brosas claimed that the local government unit of Bohol even organized a provincial athletic meet in the resort.

“What is alarming here is that the local government knew that a resort was being constructed there but instead of closing it down, they even held an activity there,” she noted.

The lawmaker cautioned that other protected areas of the country could have already been “penetrated” by businessmen, just like the Masungi Georeserve in Tanay, Rizal where the Bureau of Corrections wanted to construct its facilities.

RESORT DEMOLITION SOUGHT

This as Bohol Rep. Alexie Tutor has sought the demolition of the resort, underscoring that the Chocolate Hills “should not have been allowed to be built there in the first place.”

“It should be demolished and the construction site should be restored, with costs borne by the owners of that resort. But before these can happen, we have to follow due process,” she added.

The construction was temporarily shut down as the resort, owned by seafarer Edgar Button, still has no environmental compliance certificate or ECC.

Even after the “voluntary closure” of the resort, Sen. Nancy Binay maintained that the “willful violations” and the environmental damage were unacceptable.

Binay, the chairperson of the Senate Committee on Tourism, also criticized the Sagbayan local government, which has jurisdiction over the UNESCO-protected Chocolate Hills, for being nonchalant in handling the matter.

“The extent of environmental degradation is simply unacceptable--someone must be held accountable for this,” Binay said in a statement.

Resort manager Julieta Sablas said the Captain’s Peak Resort, which lies within the world-famous Chocolate Hills area, has temporarily shut down its operations.

Sablas, younger sister of resort owner, admitted that the resort still has no ECC but has already complied with 75 percent of the requirements. She noted that the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) for the Chocolate Hills and “Sagbayan officials” had given them the go-signal to proceed and operate the resort before its opening in 2019.

Binay said the temporary closure does not remedy anything or reverse damages done to the environment. “It is very clear that there were infractions and willful violations of law at all levels.”

“Apparently, the Sagbayan LGU admitted that it was only this Wednesday (March 13) that the DENR advised the resort to ‘voluntarily undergo a temporary closure’. So, we can see that the enforcement is clumsy and the term ‘voluntary closure’ means ‘optional’, meaning the resort has a choice not to stop its operations,” she noted.

The senator said, “right now, there are many reports and memorandum orders about non-compliance, the supposed violations committed, closure orders, cancellation of business permits, etc.”

“But, no one wants to take the blame, and the agencies directly involved in allowing the construction of a resort at Chocolate Hills are already teaching and washing their hands,” she pointed out.

She added that based on the documents, the Captain’s Peak application started in 2018, “so we wonder why within six years the permits were slipped through and the construction continued which should not have been allowed in the first place.” – Sheila Crisostomo and Cecille Suerte Felipe, Philippine Star News Service/FPL