Barangay chiefs confirm Chocolate Hills’ destruction in 1990s

CARMEN, Bohol, Philippines — Two barangay captains confirmed the destruction of Chocolate Hills in two locations here in the late 1990s.

Barangay La Paz captain Leo Bolair said a hill near the national highway reportedly owned by the Torrefranca family was bulldozed in the late 1990s to give way for a planned cockpit building.

Bolair, then a barangay councilor, also said that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources stopped the attempt to flatten the hill, which it cited as still a part of and within the protected area.

The top side of the hill, though, was already defaced when they moved to prevent further damage. A recent ocular visit showed that the defacement is still visible from the highway even when trees and shrubs are already growing on the hill.

Another village chief, Perfecto Buro of Villaflor, also confirmed that a hill was quarried by Suarez construction in the late 1990s.

Although still not a barangay official at that time, he recalled that then governor Rene Relampagos stopped the quarrying and ordered the construction firm to restore the ruined hill, which the latter did.

Buro added that the construction had already hauled some of the earth materials when it was ordered shut.

Both Bolair and Buro said they favor the plan of Carmen Mayor Conchita delos Reyes to conduct an inventory of all Chocolate Hills located in the town.