The construction and operation of a resort within the Chocolate Hills in Bohol– which was earlier proclaimed by President Fidel V. Ramos as a protected park– were allowed by virtue of two later resolutions of the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB), enacted by a mere barangay captain of Sagbayan municipality, makes one wonder if a mere board resolution can subjugate a presidential proclamation.
Following this logic, therefore, any law passed by Congress and signed by a President of the country can be rescinded or reversed by a board resolution of a government entity or a local government unit. It therefore implies that a resolution passed by an LGU or a government board is superior to that of a Presidential Proclamation or Republic Act?
Mentioning this logic is not meant to obstruct the statutes of the country but citing a reality that happened in the world-famous Chocolate Hills of Bohol.
Imagine, PAMB even bypassed its central authority– the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) central office in Quezon City which is the one that issues the environmental clearance certificate– in allowing the Captain’s Peak Resort to operate without an ECC.
See how powerful that PAMB director is!
And Governor Erico Aristotle Aumentado claims that he had no knowledge of the resort’s construction and operation, and even the roads leading to the resort.
In short, everyone was caught by surprise.
So we go back to our question before– how much was paid to allow the resort to build, operate and market itself– since it had hosted several sports and political events that obviously indicates it was well supported by local officials, including PAMB.
Now there is a clamor to revisit and amend the law creating PAMB, to also include the Department of Tourism, whose main function is to approve and accredit tourism destinations and resorts as part of its tourism programs.
The DoT said the resort, which has been operating since March 2018, was not accredited with the agency and with DENR saying it did not issue an ECC for the resort, the Sagbayan municipal government was forced to close it.
The provincial and municipal governments met with DENR, DoT and Department of Interior and Local Government regarding the controversial resort last week at the BE Grand Resort in Panglao Island.
During the meeting, DoT Secretary Ma. Cristina Garcia Frasco said: “Since PAMB was created as part of DENR by Republic Act 7856. But the local PAMB is composed of a regional director where protected areas are located and representatives of the province, municipality, NGOs or local community organizations and other government agencies. is a creation of law and DoT is not a part of PAMB, we are lobbying for legislation to amend its composition to include the DoT, so it may give its insights and guidance on sustainable tourism development for protected areas.”
Environmental watchdog, Tagbilaran Baywatch, in a statement done by lawyer Esther Gertrude Biliran and Leah Wilfreda Chavez, is demanding the permanent closure and demolition/removal of Captain’s Peak as it also asked the quashing of resolution allowing the resort to be constructed within the Chocolate Hills.
They cited PAMB Resolution No. 1, s. 2018 and PAMB Resolution No. 21, s. 2022, which they claimed favored Captain’s Peak– as having no legal basis and violative of the Chocolate Hills Natural Monument status as a protected area.
Sagbayan Mayor Restituto Suarez III immediately revoked the permit of Captain's Peak Resort after hearing about the DENR's temporary closure order on social media, reported Rappler citing his executive secretary.
Tagbilaran Baywatch is also asking the DENR, PAMB and Sagbayan LGU to initiate legal actions to cause the removal or transfer of the structures of the resort.
“Tagbilaran Baywatch, therefore, supports the call of Senator Nancy Binay and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives to ask the DENR-PAMB to explain why it allowed Captain Peak’s Resort to use at least a 20 percent portion of the Chocolate Hills in its resolution,” it said.
The group also wants the termination and prosecution of negligent government officials that allowed the construction of the resort.
#WeTakeAStand #OpinYon #DENR #PAMB #CaptainPeakResort