DENR suspends Socorro deal

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources on Friday said it ordered the suspension of its Protected Area Community-Based Resource Management Agreement with the Socorro Bayanihan Services, Incorporated.

DENR Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga suspended the deal pending further investigation into SBSI's gross violation of the terms and conditions of the agreement.

Based on DENR records, the SBSI originated in the "Tinabangay" group of Socorro, Surigao del Norte, which was organized in 1974 by the late Don Albino Taruc.

The group was incorporated and registered as a people's organization with the Securities and Exchange Commission on 20 December 1980.

SBSI applied for and was subsequently awarded a PACBRMA by virtue of the National Integrated Protected Areas System, or NIPAS, Act of 1992, as implemented by DENR Administrative Order 2004-32, issued on 31 August 2004.

The agreement, signed on 15 June 2004, covers 353 hectares of land in the northeast part of Barangay Sering, overlooking the northeast portion of Bucas Grande Island.

A PACBRMA is a legal instrument between the DENR and tenured migrant groups to develop and conserve a portion of a Protected Area for 25 years.

Under the deal's provisions, SBSI was granted certain rights and privileges over the awarded area within its established Multiple-Use Zone. Together with the DENR, SBSI developed its Community-Based Resource Management Plan, which was affirmed in 2013.