Legarda seeks accountability in resort built in Chocolate Hills

BUSINESS WITHIN THE HILLS Captain’s Peak Garden and Resort in Sagbayan, Bohol, shown in this August 2023 photo, has trended on social media after netizens called out the government and
its owners for allowing its construction and operation within the Chocolate Hills, a protected landscape. —LEO UDTOHAN

MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda pressed the need to hold government officials accountable for failure to manage protected areas in the Philippines.

Legarda’s remark came after the now-viral establishment of a resort within the Chocolate Hills protected area.

“For such an important heritage site, several layers of government bureaucracy were unable to act or sound an alarm about this defilement. It is time to make local and national agency officials accountable for inaction, wrong decisions, and failure to manage protected areas,” Legara fumed in a statement issued Wednesday evening.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) earlier addressed the controversy, pointing out that they already issued a temporary closure order and a notice of violation against the now-viral resort — Captain’s Peak.

According to the DENR, the closure order against Captain’s Peak Resort was issued on September 6, 2023.

Legarda, however, found this insufficient.

“The DENR may mobilize uniformed personnel to enforce its orders. The issuance of a temporary closure order is insufficient without strict enforcement,” the senator said.

Legarda, in the same statement, said the DENR and the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) should have delineated the 20-meter retention to guide local governments in their issuance of business permits.

“The DENR did not have to recommend the exclusion of alienable and disposable lands and that it is better to regulate activities in these areas. It is easier to manage national monuments if they are contiguous. Excluding parts in the middle from the coverage is unnecessary, as private lands can be part of protected areas. These may also be covered in the Protected Area Management Plan and all protected area rules,” she emphasized.

The Chocolate Hills has been declared a protected area since July 1, 1997.