There are many things we should be thankful for in social media, and one of them is this---once in a while, socmed is able to effectively point out how the government has been remiss in its responsibility to protect the environment and the country's native tourist attractions.
The View from Calumpang sees a drone shot of a full resort nestled in the foothills of at least three limestone mounds in the Chocolate Hills area in Bohol, one of our signature tourist spots, and popular across the globe.
If there is such a thing as a photo bomber in a tourism-oriented photograph, this is it.
It does not take much time or brain power to know that a resort with its huge swimming pool, hotel rooms and other amenities does not belong to the area.
Chocolate Hills is special to Philippine tourism and culture. This tourism signature of Bohol is recognized as one of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) Global Geoparks, the first in the Philippines.
The usually "mayabang" and "error-free" Philippine Daily Inquirer said President Fidel V. Ramos issued Presidential Decree No. 1037 declaring the Chocolate Hills in Carmen, Bilar, Batuan, Sagbayan, Sierra Bullones and Valencia towns as a Natural Monument, ensuring their protection.
Ramos might have issued such a measure, but for sure it was not a presidential decree, because there is only one President in the history of the Philippines thus far, who had both the opportunity and the notoriety to issue presidential decrees. It's Ferdinand E. Marcos during his martial law regime.
The Inquirer must be referring to a Presidential Proclamation, but just the same it provided the people enough justification to maintain the physical integrity of this tourism icon.
After the social media opened a can of worms, government officials of all kinds and sizes started the finger-pointing game.
It seems the DENR Central Visayas regional director, Paquito Melicor, issued a temporary closure order (TCO) against Captain's Peak Garden and Resort in Sagbayan town last Sept. 6, 2023. Melicor wrote a memorandum addressed to Ariel Rica, chief of the Bohol Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (Penro) directing him to check if such closure order had been served and was followed.
Based on this info, so it has been 7 months since the DENR acted on the anomaly, and only now when the issue was noticed by netizens in social media, and ventilated therein, that the RED was prodded to ask if the closure order was complied with?
It was also reported that Captain's Peak was operating without an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) also it has a business permit from the Sagbayan local government unit in 2019.
The Covid-19 pandemic delayed the resort's business operation and they moved it to 2022.
There is enough time, therefore, for the provincial government, the municipal government, the DENR Penro and Regional Director to act on this issue but did not.
Come to think of it, where is DENR Secretary Antonia Yulo Loyzaga in all this mess? Abroad again, Mrs. Peripatetic Environment Secretary?
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