ILOILO CITY –– About 10 residents of Boracay Island, including foreigners, were detained on Monday in an operation led by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) against alleged violators of environmental laws.
Lawyer Czar Eric Nuque, chief of the NBI’s Environmental Crime Division, told the INQUIRER that the residents and property owners were detained and undergoing inquest proceedings before formal charges for violation of forestry, water, and zoning laws and codes are filed.
Nuque said the operation of the NBI with the Boracay Inter-Agency Task Force was based on a follow-up investigation on owners of properties occupying government or public land.
“We conducted en flagrante delicto (in the act of committing an offense or crime) arrest involving residents and other nationalities,” he said.
Aside from forestry and water codes, also allegedly violated by the detained is the 30-meter beach easement.
“They have been repeatedly warned, and sent notices of violations for several years, but they chose to ignore. This is their day of reckoning,” Nuque said.