Binay on seeing resorts in Chocolate Hills: ‘Infuriating, heartbreaking’

Captain’s Peak Garden and Resort in Sagbayan, Bohol (File photo from LEO UDTOHAN)

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Nancy Binay on Wednesday fumed at the sight of resorts built within the protected Chocolate Hills in Bohol.

“Nakakagalit at nakakadurog ng puso ang nakita nating mga nakatayo nang resorts sa mga paanan mismo ng Chocolate Hills,” Binay said in a statement.

(It’s infuriating and heartbreaking to see resorts standing right at the foot of the Chocolate Hills.)

“Sa unang tingin pa lamang, alam na nating may mali,” added the chairperson of the Senate committee on tourism.

(At first glance alone, we already know something is wrong.)

If indeed agencies tasked to protect the Chocolate Hills have a pro-environment mindset, then Binay asked: “How come a resort with cottages and a swimming pool was allowed to be constructed inside a “classified natural monument’ and a protected UNESCO geopark?”

Binay was referring to the now-viral Captain’s Peak Resort in Sagbayan town and Bud Agta in Carmen town.

She now wants this issue investigated in the Senate.

In Senate Resolution No. 967 filed this Wednesday, Binay asked the appropriate committees to look into  the construction of the  structures within the vicinity of the Chocolate Hills.

“We understand the importance of development, but there should be boundaries,” the senator pointed out  in her earlier  statement.

“If the DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources) continues to issue ECCs (environmental compliance certificates) in the guise of ‘tourism development,’ I believe they have misunderstood what ecotourism is all about, and they have become complicit to defacing a natural monument they’re supposed to oppose,” she said.

She also cited a resolution issued by the DENR’s Protected Area Management Board (PAMB), endorsing the development of the Captain’s Peak Resort within the Chocolate Hills Natural Monument.

Binay then demanded the agencies and other local offices — DENR and PAMB, the Bohol Environment Management Office, the  Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office and  local government units, to explain “as to why even with Chocolate Hills’ protected status, construction permits continue to be granted.”

In a separate statement, the DENR explained that it has already issued a temporary closure order in September last year.

A team will be formed to inspect the resort’s compliance with the closure order, the department added.

Last January 22, the DENR said they also issued a notice of violation to the project proponent for operating without an ECC.