Bohol water facility construction spat: Sevilla asks Balilihan to pull out project

Bohol map. INQUIRER FILES

MANILA, Philippines — In an ongoing battle over the construction of a water facility in Bohol province, the town of Sevilla has asked its neighbor Balilihan to withdraw its allegedly illegal construction in the Bugwak Spring.

In a resolution dated April 3 but released to the media on Saturday, the municipal council of Sevilla said that it had repeatedly asked – verbal and written requests – Balilihan to dismantle the project but local officials of the adjacent town allegedly did not recognize their plea.

This time, Sevilla’s demand is formalized in a resolution – “requesting the local government unit of Ballian/Municipality of Balilihan thru its local/municipal officials to detach, eliminate, remove, take away, and get rid of all current and existing structures, facilities, machineries (sic), equipment, materials, and the like that are directly and indirectly connected, attached, anchored, fixed, and or linked to the Bugwak spring and/or within its premises and mandatorily prohibiting and barring them to commit such illegal and inappropriate acts and omissions in the future.”

The local government of Sevilla stressed that it has an obligation to protect its own interests and rights “against all illegal intruders, violators, and usurpers.”

It added that it already brought the case before the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

READ: Sevilla town in Bohol asks DENR, NWRB: Stop neighboring town from extracting water from us

While the DENR’s National Water Resources Board (NWRB) had given the local government of Balilihan a permit to extract water from the Bugwak Spring on the side of Sto. Niño, the municipality ended up siphoning water from the Bugwak Spring on the side of Magsaysay in Sevilla town.

In March, the NWRB asked Balilihan to explain water extraction in Sevilla.

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