IF there is a contest for photo bombers in a tourism-oriented photo exhibit, the one in Chocolate Hills, Bagnayan, Bohol will win first prize, hands down.
There is an Olympic-size swimming pool, structures for hotel accommodation, a concrete road to the resort, etc. which do not blend with the greenery, majesty and natural beauty that made these small hills of limestone formations in five towns in Bohol island the tourist attraction that it is.
This tourism signature of Bohol is recognized as one of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) Global Geoparks, the first in the Philippines.
It does not take much time or brain power to know that a resort with its huge swimming pool, hotel rooms and other amenities does not belong to the area. A single post on Facebook and other social media platforms revealed this environmental anomaly and the visual comment struck hard in the community consciousness of local netizens. With the internet a global phenomenon, Filipinos and foreigners abroad were also immediately incensed by what they saw on social media and urged the government to act immediately.
A few days later, more photographs of two more such resorts in Chocolate Hills emerged, compounding the problem.
We may recall that President Fidel V. Ramos issued a presidential proclamation declaring the Chocolate Hills in Carmen, Bilar, Batuan, Sagbayan, Sierra Bullones and Valencia towns as a Natural Monument, ensuring their protection.
‘In the wake of these events and problems, people are obliged to ask–where is Environment Secretary Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga in all this?’
On paper, this issuance provided the officials of the national government (Department of Environment and Natural Resources) and local government units in the province with enough justification to maintain the physical integrity of this tourism icon. However, these government offices are not known for working in unison for the good of the nation. Worse, they tend to implement policies that reflect only their particular short-sighted interests.
At first glance, this messy affair in Chocolate Hills was caused by the local government unit’s aggressive drive for more local revenues. They gave permits and licenses for these resorts and supported their business. The Department of Tourism presumably did the same, without regard for the concerns of the DENR and existing laws, rules and regulations. The resort owner admitted that Captain’s Peak was operating without an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) although it was able to secure a business permit from the Sagbayan municipality in 2019.
Following the “discovery” of the Chocolate Hills issue, the DENR Central Visayas regional director, Paquito Melicor, revealed that his office issued a temporary closure order (TCO) against Captain’s Peak Garden and Resort in Sagbayan town last Sept. 6, 2023. Melicor wrote a memorandum addressed to Ariel Rica, chief of the Bohol Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (Penro), directing him to check if such a closure order had been served and was followed.
Based on this info, it can be deduced that a full seven months had passed since the DENR realized that something was remiss, and yet it was only now when the issue was noticed by netizens in social media, and ventilated therein, that the Regional Director was prodded to ask if the closure order was complied with? Obviously, his order was ignored, since Captain’s Peak was caught on drone cameras as it was still operating. Even the owner admitted that they had petitioned the DENR for a stay of the order because they have a title to the land in question and were issued the necessary permits by the town.
Environmentalists like Cecile Guidote Alvarez, who is a Unesco awardee, said the accolade given by that United Nations body to Chocolate Hills is not permanent. She said there is a panel of experts who monitor how the government is taking care of the Global Geoparks. If these are defaced, destroyed or have deteriorated because of government neglect or religious violence such as when the Islamic State demolished certain national heritage structures, then the Unesco will have to reconsider the international recognition. Guidote-Alvarez is worried that if the Philippine government does not shape up, Chocolate Hills might lose its Unesco award, thus dealing a big blow to local tourism.
In the wake of these events and problems, people are obliged to ask–where is Environment Secretary Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga in all this? The peripatetic DENR secretary has always been so busy representing the country in global conferences and meetings abroad that she is obviously remiss in her duties in supervising the department’s regional operations, where the task of environmental protection is most needed.
