Alarm raised over illegal ‘resort,’ activities in Rizal watershed

PROTECTED LANDSCAPE An aerial photo from the Masungi Georeserve Foundation on May 13 shows smoke rising from a patch of land within the Upper Marikina River Basin Protected Landscape in Rizal province. This was one of several fires within the watershed since April reported by the foundation. —PHOTO COURTESY OF MASUNGI GEORESERVE FOUNDATION

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is investigating alleged illegal activities of a small private resort within the Upper Marikina River Basin Protected Landscape (UMRBPL) following reports that it was expanding.

Nilo Tamoria, executive director of the DENR Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), last week said they had met with the operator of the resort in Sitio San Roque in Baras town in Rizal province, and directed him to stop his construction works within the watershed area as he did not have the proper clearance and permits.

A copy of a show-cause order obtained by the Inquirer indicated that as early as April 2019, the resort operator was directed to explain why he should not be held liable for violating the National Integrated Protected Areas System Act.

Under the law, construction and business enterprises within a protected area are prohibited without prior clearance from the Protected Areas Management Board and a permit from the DENR.

Tamoria said the DENR was looking into whether the resort operator could be held liable and removed from the site.

Protected since 2011

He told the Inquirer in a phone interview on Thursday that his office was plotting the location of the resort and checking it against the protected areas management and zoning plan.

“We will also verify if he has a proper tenurial instrument. These will be the basis for our next steps,” he said.

Tamoria noted that prior to the declaration of the Upper Marikina watershed as a protected landscape in 2011, there were already existing structures in the area.

“But definitely under the Protected Areas Management System, there should be no structures. If there are, they should have proper clearance,” he added.

He said the DENR had so far issued 68 show-cause orders this year and that several violators had been charged and arrested.

“We are slowly going through this, running after those who are illegally occupying the land first,” he said.

The conservation group Masungi Georeserve Foundation had raised the alarm about the construction and expansion of resorts and a number of fires within the protected landscape late last month.

The DENR, local government officials and the Bureau of Fire Protection had determined that these were grass fires that scorched an area of at least 500 square meters, said Tamoria.

“We are not removing the possibility that this could be slash-and-burn, or ‘kaingin,’ based on its history. But there was no one around when our personnel went there,” he said.

Located around 47 kilometers east of Metro Manila, Masungi Georeserve is an ecotourism limestone site in Baras town and is part of the UMRBPL. Forest restoration efforts at the georeserve are backed by the DENR and are funded by the foundation and Blue Star, a construction and development company.

The UMRBPL, which forms the upper area of the drainage basin of the Marikina River, covers 26,126 hectares in Rizal province. Despite being declared as a protected landscape 10 years ago, threats to its ecosystems such as illegal logging, quarrying and land grabbing persist.

Billie Dumaliang, a trustee of the foundation, said they were alarmed when ash fell over the georeserve site in late April. Aerial photos later showed smoke rising from certain patches of land.

Swimming pools

Photos taken in 2016 and 2021 provided by the foundation to the Inquirer showed expansion of the resorts with swimming pools and other structures in Baras.

Dumaliang told the Inquirer on Saturday that the resorts were outside of their reforestation area, but still within the protected landscape.

“Business could be allowed inside protected areas, and sometimes for good, but they need proper permits from both the local government and the DENR,” she said.

Even if these resorts are small or family-run businesses, Dumaliang said proper titles or permits should still be secured before they could expand, construct or operate.

She called on the DENR to closely monitor the situation, saying that there had been “lots of opportunism and encroachment” within the watershed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We need the assistance and help in terms of enforcement on the ground,” she said in an earlier interview. “We welcome the announcement for stronger forest and watershed protection, but we need to see these plans in action.”

The Department of the Interior and Local Government also instructed the local government and the police in Calabarzon to immediately investigate the matter.

In a memorandum issued on Wednesday, Interior Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said prompt action must be taken on alleged illegal entry and incursion within the protected area.