Binay: DENR complacent on illegal structures

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources could have avoided the illegal establishment of structures in the protected areas if it was not complacent, Senator Nancy Binay said Saturday.

Citing the results of a public hearing earlier this week, Binay said the DENR should have compiled a record of Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) meetings tackling structures establishment in protected areas.

She noted that audio-visual recordings of every meeting "promote greater accountability within the agency."

"It’s better to have an actual recording. Maybe you could start requiring not only minutes of the meetings but actual recording of PAMB hearings," she said.

"If you are only to rely on the minutes of the meeting, it was not clearly stated what are the exchanges made and what are the explanations," she added.

Binay recently expressed concern over the non-attendance of key DENR officials in the PAMB meetings for the construction of a resort in Chocolate Hills.

She cited a DENR official disclosed, during a Senate hearing, that the agency "was not privy to some of the details in PAMB meetings because their representatives were absent."

"It's surprising to know that the PAMB conducted a hearing, which is chaired by the DENR Director, without an audio or video recording to validate the official minutes of the meeting," Binay lamented.

It was revealed during the same hearing that PAMB clearance for Captain's Peak Garden and Resort was issued during the time of former DENR regional executive in Central Visayas, Gilbert Gonzales.

Gonzales, who currently sits as DENR’s assistant secretary, confirmed before the senators that he did not attend the said PAMB meeting for the Chocolate Hills resort due to a conflict in his schedule.

Meanwhile, Binay stressed again that "the minutes or recordings are supposed to serve as accountability tools, and as reliable references should there be issues and misunderstandings in the future."

Binay, along with Senator Cynthia Villar, called for the demolition of the Chocolate Hills resort as it will compromise the long-term preservation of the protected area in Bohol province.

"'Yung structure itself, ang sakit sa bangs nung itsura. For me, dapat matanggal talaga 'yang structure," she said.