A LEGAL LUMINARY urged the people to prevent the leveling of the hill in Caticlan to make way for the extension of the airport runway because it is unconstitutional.

?A people?s movement should be formed to see to it that it is prevented because it is against the Constitution,? said Dean Froilan Bacungan, a former dean of the UP College of Law, at the recent Kapihan sa Sulo.

Bacungan cited section 79 of the 1987 Constitution: ?The State shall protect and advance the right of the people to a balanced ecology in accordance with the harmony of nations.?

He expressed his opinion after hearing the warning of an expert of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) that the beaches of Boracay will disappear if the hill is leveled as required by the Caticlan Airport upgrade project.

Dr. Ricarte Javelosa of the Mines & Geosciences Bureau of the DENR conducted a case study on Boracay?s micro-climate where he claims that the Boracay-Caticlan Zone of Micro-Climatic Convergence is where low and high energy environments converge generating mild surface currents and breezy waves highly conducive to deposition of white coral-rich beaches of Boracay.

Javelosa explained that the longshore currents of Amihan and Habagat converge at Caticlan Point.

The morphologist is convinced that leveling the hill will trigger local hydro-met changes in the area that would eventually lead to the erosion of beaches along Boracay and drying up of the Lupo-Lupo Lake.

?That particular hill is a climate barrier that deflects and converts strong monsoon winds into gentle breezes that swirl and loiter along the beaches of Boracay and Caticlan,? said Javelosa.