Mayor told to stop house project in protected area

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines—The Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (Penro) has ordered a municipal mayor to stop building a rest house inside the Northern Negros Natural Park (NNNP), a protected area.

Andres Untal, Penro head, issued a cease-and-desist order (CDO) against Murcia Mayor Andrew Montelibano on March 3 after receiving reports that he was putting up a two-story building in Spur 20 in Salvador Benedicto town inside the NNNP without permit.

Spur 20 has been classified as a multipurpose zone but any construction inside the area requires clearance from the Protected Area Management Board and a permit from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Untal said.

Montelibano told the Inquirer that he would abide by the order. “I am not the only one being issued a CDO. There are others,” he said.

Untal said more occupants of the park would be issued CDOs next week.

None of the ongoing construction in the area has a permit, he said.

The NNNP, which has a total land area of 80,454 hectares, straddles the cities of Talisay, Silay, Victorias, Cadiz, Sagay and San Carlos and the towns of EB Magalona, Toboso, Calatrava, Don Salvador Benedicto and Murcia.

The NNNP, according to the Philippine Biodiversity Conservation Foundation, is host to the biggest remaining forest on Negros Island.

It was Chief Insp. Gabriel Gutierrez, Task Force Ilahas action officer, who reported about the illegal occupants in Spur 20.

Gutierrez said construction of the building owned by Montelibano in Spur 20 resumed after it was stopped following an inspection by Task Force Ilahas, the province’s antilogging group.

The report said the construction workers were told to stop their activities on Feb. 26 pending investigation. But they resumed work the next day allegedly on orders of Montelibano.

The mayor said the task force appeared to be picking on him when others had already built resorts and houses in the area a long time ago.

He said some occupants in the forest area had been allowed to stay.

Montelibano said he had applied for a permit from the DENR to occupy eight hectares in Spur 20. He is building a rest house on a 90-square-meter lot and plans to reforest the rest of the property.

The mayor admitted that although there was an order to stop the construction, he decided to resume out of fear that the materials for his rest house would be stolen.

In another report, Gutierrez  said authorities received information that a parcel of land, also in Spur 20, was being occupied by businessman Ramon Lacson.

Investigation showed that the 14-hectare property had been claimed and occupied by Danilo Mallorca, Felix Sugbon and Moreto Amban, but that it was bought by Lacson in 2009.

Gutierrez noted that no construction activity was seen in the area during an inspection. But he added that a portion of the area was being cleared.

Lacson accused the government of being selective, saying hundreds of people have been occupying the NNNP in Salvador Benedicto for years “most of them without any title.”