Senators scored the Department of Environment and National Resources for penalizing violators of the protected areas for only P50,000.
In a Senate public inquiry into the construction of a resort within the protected Mt. Apo National Reserve in the Davao Region on Wednesday, Senator Nancy Binay questioned the DENR for allowing the construction of the Twin Mountain View Resort pending the owner’s acquisition of clearance from the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) and Environmental Compliance Certificates (ECC) from the DENR.
The resort was given PAMB clearance on 10 November 2022 and got an EC on 20 November 2023 from the DENR’s Environmental Management Bureau, according to the PAMB chairperson for the Mt. Apo Natural Park, lawyer Ma. Mercedes Dumagan.
No clearance
“Were the structures already there before the PAMB [clearance] was granted, as well as the ECC?” Binay asked.
Dumagan replied, “Yes, your honor.”
Binay scored the resort’s building of structures without a PAMB clearance and ECC.
“They already had a violation in the first place. Why didn’t you issue an order to demolish the structure?” Binay said.
Dumagan said the EMB penalized the resort right away.
Binay asked, “Then what was the penalty?”
“They were made to pay P50,000,” Dumagan said.
Binay said the DENR should impose stricter penalties.
Citing the law, DENR Undersecretary for Legal and Administration Ernesto Adobo said the prohibited acts such as utilization, alteration, defacing, or construction only require a penalty of P50,000 and up.
Senator Cynthia Villar scored the DENR for allowing the construction to start without an ECC.
“An ECC would not be issued without the approval of the DENR. It is the one issuing the ECC,” she said.
Senator Raffy Tulfo said, "It does not make sense" for the DENR to penalize the violators for only P50,000.
“You should have ordered the removal. It should be demolished,” he said.
Tulfo agreed with Binay that the illegally built structures should have been demolished.
“Demolish the structures. Instead of penalizing them P50,000, they will go later,” he added.
In the same hearing, Tulfo criticized the DENR’s policy on its freedom of information manual, which prohibited the agency from disclosing the list of ECC and mining applicants, citing national security concerns.
He likewise lambasted the agency and its attached bureaus for pointing fingers at one another during the probe.