TAGBILARAN CITY – Owners/residents of business establishments of at least four towns situated within the Chocolate Hills National Monument Protected Area (CHNM-PA) are facing the impending charges for violations of environment laws.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) thru its Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) has issued Notice of Violations (NOVs) to establishments who did not have the required Environmental Clearance Certificate (ECC) to operate. But it did not issue the order for closure of those business firms as confirmed by Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) during the special meeting of the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) for CHNM.
A total 434 (NOVs) in both Alienable and Disposable and timberlands in the towns of Carmen, Batuan, Bilar and Sagbayan, where the controversial Captain’s Peak Resort is located, have been issued. The town of Carmen has 76 NOVs and 21 PAMB clearance; Batuan, 100 NOVs and 8 PAMB clearance; Bilar, 70 NOVs and one PAMB clearance; and Sagbayan, 188 NOVs and 14 PAMB clearance.
But Carmen Municipal Administrator Atty. Eliezer Cagol said that there are more NOVs issued to affected Carmen residents than the list of the DENR.
The report of NOVs issuance worries business owners and residents alike as the entire town territorial jurisdiction is practically under the Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas Systems (E-NIPAS) Act. This after they received the Notice of Violations from the DENR, former PeNRO and now barangay chieftain Nestor Canda of Poblacion Sur, Batan town, said.
The CENRO bared that they’re bound to produce documentation for National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for case build-up against those whose firms are ECC-less. The Department of Justice (DOJ) is said to be serious in filing cases against those ECC-less establishments.
Governor Aris Aumentado, who personally attended the said meeting, vowed to talk to DOJ thru its officer-in-charge to give ample time for the affected residents to comply the environmental requisites.
He said that people here need to be assisted so as not to deprive them of their livelihood. Bohol is now having 14% poverty incidence from 19%, he said. What if these people lose their livelihood? Will the poverty incidence go up, again?
Batuan town Mayor Atty. Mawell Tumanda said that the NBI assured that not to take drastic measures, just yet, against the establishment owners who don’t have ECC.
Rep. Alexie B. Tutor and Rep. Vanessa C. Aumentado (3rd and 2nd districts, respectively) have refiled bills amending Republic Act No. 11038 (Expanded-NIPAS Act) or An Act Declaring Protected Areas and Providing for Their Management, Amending for This Purpose Republic Act No. 7586, Otherwise Known as the “National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS) Act of 1992” and for Other Purposes governing the CHNM. (Ric Obedencio)
