Free the rivers and shores

Presidential Decree 1067 or the Philippine Water Code is clear.

“The banks or rivers and streams and the shores of the seas and lakes throughout their entire length and within a zone of three (3) meters in urban areas, twenty (20) meters in agricultural areas and forty (40) meters in forest areas, along their margins, are subject to the easement of public use in the interest of recreation, navigation, flotage, fishing and salvage,” the law says.

No one, says the law, is allowed to stay in easement zones for a period longer than necessary for recreation, navigation, flotage, fishing or salvage or to build structures of any kind.

The temporary closure of the Kawasan Falls in Badian on orders of Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia  was a bold move with a good intention.

She took a hammer to the concrete base of a cottage that should have been nowhere near the beautiful lagoon.

The demolition of “illegal structures” there aims to restore the Kawasan Falls to its natural glory instead of the collection of cottages and kiosks that have sprung up as  symbols of  what she called “crass commercialization.”

Does this look familiar?

There are echoes here of the June 2010 jackhammer destruction of six beach resorts in Sta. Fe, Bantayan Island that were extending into the sea.

Remember the long-running battle of environment crusader Antonio Oposa to save his hometown island from being overrun by “mindless” tourism? ‘ He, too, challenged the public’s right to access to the sea, citing the Water Code and other environmental laws.

One big difference is that it was the  Regional Trial Court that declared the seashore structures “illegal” and ordered  the demolition in Sta. Fe.

Private resort owners grumbled and slugged it out in court, insisting that their investments were made before the shore line advanced.

In the end, Judge Marilyn Lagura-Yap directed the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to carry out the demolition with the town mayor and stopped the issuance of  Environmental Compliance Certificates (ECCs)  in Bantayan island until a Protected Area Management Plan is made.

The judge  ordered the DENR to tear down seawalls and structures built within the “20-meter distance at the margin of the seashore”.

Kawasan Falls cottage owners didn’t have the luxury of a lawsuit, but had plenty of warning from the Capitol, whose April 15 deadline to voluntarily remove structures, came and went.

They have to deal with Governor Garcia.

One resort owner, Willy Saldua, claimed to have  titles to the land. If he has one, now’s the time to show it.   The document would surely be spurious.

There are hunderds of  enterprising Willy Salduas in Cebu island,  small cottage owners and sprawling resorts that ignore  easement rules on rivers and the sea. But they don’t really listen until someone takes a big whack, with a hammer or a lawsuit, to demolish their flawed sense of entitlement.