REP. France Castro (PL, ACT) yesterday urged the House leadership to also look into the construction of resorts and the holding of other illegal activities in the Masungi Georeserve in Tanay, Rizal while it is investigating the establishment of the infamous Captain’s Peak Garden and Resort within the Chocolate Hills protected area in Bohol.
“While it is good that a hearing (has been set) on the issue of the Captain’s Peak Resort constructed in the area of Chocolate Hills, we are asking the House leadership to also call for a hearing on House Resolutions 867 and 1598 even during the break to look into the growing encroachment at the Masungi Reserve,” said the militant lawmaker who is a member of the Makabayan bloc.
The Makabayan bloc’s HR No. 867 is a resolution expressing the sense of the House of Representatives to support efforts to conserve the Masungi Georeserve, while HR No. 1598 seeks to probe the violation of conservation laws and ecological damage caused by the Rizal Wind Energy Corp. (RWEC) in the Masungi Karst Conservation Area.
On March 19, the Masungi Georeserve Foundation Inc. (MGFI) called attention to two resorts – Erin’s Place and Lihim na Batis – located in the portion covered by the Upper Marikina River Basin (UMRB) and under the municipality of Baras, Rizal.
The MGFI later said it was able to locate seven more resorts and private developments within the 26,000-hectare UMRB, which overlaps with the Masungi reforestation area managed by the foundation and which has also been declared a protected area since 2011.
Of the seven sites that were spotted and documented using a drone, the foundation identified five: Joeylot, Damun Bakery, Eastside Resort and Campsite, GSB Farm, and Bangui Farm.
Castro said Masungi, which is the watershed protecting Rizal and Metro Manila during the rainy season, has to be protected from commercialism because it is also a source of water.
“Hindi uubra ang ginagawa ng Protected Areas Management Board (PAMB) dito at maging sa Bohol at sa iba pang lugar na basta na lang pinapayagan ang mga hindi sustenableng gawain sa mga protektadong lugar. Hindi rin pwede na inuupuan lang ng DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources) ang mga reklamo laban sa mga ito (What the Protected Areas Management Board is doing here and in Bohol and other areas of just allowing non-sustainable activities in protected areas can’t be tolerated. The DENR, also can’t sit on these complaints),” she said.
