‘All Chocolate Hills structures need to go’

DENR chief: We must restore protected areas

MANILA, Philippines — All structures at the Chocolate Hills will likely be demolished to restore the protected area, Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga said yesterday.

“Looking at this, it is very possible that all of these will have to be demolished and restored because there is a disturbance in the ecology that should not have happened. The restoration needs to happen,” Loyzaga said after visiting the controversial Captain’s Peak Resort in Bohol.

Loyzaga said the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is looking into all the structures operating in the protected area.

“We acknowledge that we need sources of livelihood, it is important to the economy. We have different framing not only for ecotourism but also conservation tourism,” Loyzaga added.

For his part, Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos said there should be a moratorium on the construction of establishments at the Chocolate Hills.

“I will definitely propose it. I would say right now, whatever we have, we need to check them. With the present law, can we still sleep at night, when upon waking up, there might be a new swimming pool (at the Chocolate Hills)?” Abalos said. “What are the mechanisms that need to be introduced?”

Abalos said he has an initial list of local government officials who will be charged for allowing the construction of the Captain’s Peak Resort.

Loyzaga also said that the DENR will review all the
 Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECCs), including the pending applications in the protected area.

According to Loyzaga, all applications will be handled by the DENR Central Office instead of its regional office.

LGU may be liable

The DENR is looking into the liability of local officials of Sagbayan municipality in Bohol who allowed the Captain’s Peak Resort at Chocolate Hills to operate without ECCs.

In a radio interview yesterday, Environment Undersecretary Carlos David also said the DENR has no mandate to order the demolition of the resort, as it is the Philippine National Police and local government units that are authorized to do so.

“It is difficult to say (the possible liability) but definitely the people on the ground would have known that this kind of project exists. I saw the papers of Captain’s Peak. They have the business permit, they have occupancy permit, which are given by the LGU,” David said.

David added it’s the LGU in the municipality that gave the go-signal to the construction of the resort. He also thanked the netizen who posted the viral video of the Captain’s Peak Resort.

“Honestly, because of the huge protected areas, it is virtually impossible to really check every single protected area. Nonetheless, for Mt. Apo, as well as Bohol, we have separate investigations being conducted by our regional offices,” he said.

While the DENR has no power to demolish the resort, it can at least issue citations for various environment violations against the resort operator.

“The DENR has no mandate to demolish or remove the structure, the LGU and PNP have the mandate. On our part, we provide violations. In the case of Bohol, among the violations include construction without an ECC permit, no permit to extract water from the ground and so on, the investigation is continuous. We will forward these violations to the concerned authorities,” he added.

Under the Constitution, “all the water bodies, including rain water, creeks, springs, and groundwater are owned by the state so every time you extract water for your own purposes, you need to secure a water rights permit,” David added.

He said the National Water Resources Board, an attached agency of DENR, is going after Captain’s Peak Resort for its illegal deep wells.

He maintained that while the DENR chairs the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB), the board is a collegial organization composed of LGUs and stakeholders.

“The PAMB is tasked for the protection in any development of protected areas so there is PAMB Chocolate Hills. It is not directly under DENR, but we serve as chairs,” he said.

Earlier, DENR Undersecretary for field operations Juan Miguel Cuna said they would also check other establishments reportedly operating around Chocolate Hills.

Cuna added that the Captain’s Peak Resort owner could be fined up to P5 million for operating in a protected area.