MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said on Sunday it was considering freezing the processing of tax declarations for properties in Boracay.

In a statement on Sunday, Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Lito Atienza said he would seek a total freeze on the acceptance and processing of new applications for tax declaration covering properties in Boracay Island and announced the start of the cadastral survey of the island this week.

"We will be coordinating with the municipal assessor to stop accepting and processing new applications for tax declaration because this is the main source of one of our major problems here in Boracay," Atienza said.

Atienza made the twin announcements last week in a meeting with Boracay stakeholders at the Mandarin Hotel on the island.

Meeting the stakeholders for the second time, Atienza encouraged the group, composed mostly of investors, to suggest ways to best address the various issues facing the popular island report whose environment has been degraded by uncontrolled development of hotels and shops.

"I am ready to listen to you if you have any suggestions before we formulate the guidelines. Because the moment we finalize the guidelines, we will have to follow them," he said.

Also, Atienza asked Dr. Orlando Sacay, former president of the Boracay Foundation, Inc., to designate representatives to the committee to be created to thresh out the issues and solutions related to the island.

Atienza said that while he was tasked to implement the law, he would consider the investments of the stakeholders on the island. On the other hand, Atienza stressed that "minimal steps" should be taken to comply with the law.

Atienza also expressed concern about the on-going construction of various structures on the island, especially in protected areas.

"I still see construction going on in the forested areas. This is what I mean by continuing violation, continuing degradation, in total violation of what the SC (Supreme Court) has already declared."

Atienza sought the help of the stakeholders "to stop all these constructions because they will not be included in the solutions we are looking for, if they insist on violating the law."

In 2008, the Supreme Court upheld Malacañang's declaration of Boracay as public property and that private landowners could not get titles to their lots without a law from Congress.

The DENR said it was ready to enforce the ruling and would conduct a cadastral survey on the island. The agency also presented lot owners three options to get titles for their land: purchase of their lots from the government; judicial confirmation where a court can acknowledge the owners' tax declarations; and the issuance of a Forest Land Use Agreement for Tourism Purposes for properties on forest lands.

The stakeholders earlier said they were willing to cooperate with government to find ways for lot owners to legitimize their claim over their land.

"We are trying to be reasonable but we will not allow the continuing violation of what has already been defined by the Supreme Court," Atienza said.

He warned the investors, "unless we are able to correct what has already been practiced, you will lose everything you have invested if we lose Boracay due to degradation, anarchy in the building of structures, which should not have been built at all."

Also present during the meeting were representatives from various local organizations, like the Boracay Foundation, Inc., Boracay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Land Owner Association, and other hotel and resort owners.