Proclamation 1037, issued by then-President Fidel Ramos in 1997, designated the Chocolate Hills and surrounding areas in the province of Bohol as a National Geological Monument and Protected Landscape.

Ramos issued the proclamation that prohibited all further private land titling activities in the said areas, recognizing the Chocolate Hill’s “unique geological formations and the importance of covering this wonder for future generations.” 

The question that baffles, to which the local government of Sagbayan, Bohol, could only hazard a guess, is: How were the owners of the Captain’s Peak resort built at the foot of the Chocolate Hills able to get a title for the land in 2005?

Felito Pon, executive secretary of the Office of the Sagbayan Mayor, said the original landowners could have sold their landholding to the owners of the resort.

“There’s an original title awarded to the original owner, then they tended to sell them (land parcels) to others… and it’s beyond our control,” Pon said in Filipino in a television interview.

He explained that applications (permits, etc.) related to the resort reached the local government in 2018 and were referred to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and its Protected Area Management Board.

Pon said the resort’s business permit would be revoked if violations had been committed. Likewise, the LGU could have stopped construction activities at the resort as soon as they learned of a temporary closure order by the DENR against the facility.

“We just learned about it yesterday because no one gave us a copy of the temporary closure order,” he added. “If we had known about the temporary closure order, the resort’s application for renewal would not have been approved.”

Despite being declared a protected area, Pon admitted that some lands near Chocolate Hills were privately owned. 

The Senate and the House of Representatives vowed to investigate the matter, while the Department of the Interior and Local Government said it would look at the liability of the local government units concerned. 

According to the DENR, the Captain’s Peak Resort operates without an environmental compliance certificate and was issued a Notice of Violation on 22 January this year. 

However, the resort operator maintained in a media statement that their construction plans underwent rigorous scrutiny and received the necessary approvals from relevant authorities, including the DENR.

On Wednesday, Senator Nancy Binay said the DENR and PAMB could have been “complicit” in allowing the resort to be built in a protected area, now serving as an eyesore to the beauty of Chocolate Hills.

Binay criticized the construction of “illegal and informal structures” such as swimming pools, slides, and cottages by Captain’s Peak Garden and Resort in Sagbayan town and the Bud Agta Resort in Barangay Tamboan, Carmen.

She said the tourist destinations are “too close to the feet” of Chocolate Hills.

Amid netizens’ left and right attacks, the owner of the controversial Captain’s Peak Garden and Resort in Bohol announced on Thursday that it had temporarily halted its operation.

“In accordance with the directives from the DENR, Captain’s Peak Garden and Resort will be temporarily closed for maintenance and environmental preservation efforts,” the official statement said in its Meta (Facebook) account.

“We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your understanding and support as we work towards a greener, more sustainable future for Captain’s Peak Garden and Resort. Thank you for your cooperation, and we look forward to welcoming you back soon,” the statement further read.

The Department of Tourism had earlier issued a statement that the resort is not accredited to them.

with Jing Villamente