THE municipal government of El Nido has been given six months to “shape up” and implement the necessary measures to resolve environmental violations in its beach areas.
This developed as Environment Undersecretary for Solid Waste Management and Local Government Units Concerns Benny D. Antiporda clarified that there is no order to close either El Nido or Coron towns, similar to what was implemented in Boracay Island. “No. It won’t be like that [closing the entire towns]. But drastic change will be implemented on the island,” he stressed, adding, “We will close only those establishments which are pasaway (hardheaded).”
The mayor of El Nido, Nieves Cabunalda-Rosento, as well as Vice Mayor Leonor Corral met with officials of the Boracay Inter-Agency Task Force (BIATF) on Wednesday to discuss plans to resolve any violations by their beach establishments. The BIATF, chaired by Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu, has now been repurposed to look at other island destinations in the country and determine their carrying capacities, as well as monitor any business and environmental violations.
Antiporda also said “it’s possible” that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will implement a wider easement for El Nido’s beaches. At present, he said, the municipal government “has been stressing that it is following a three-meter easement based on the Water [Code], which the DENR has objected to.”
While the three-meter easement is not exactly specified in the implementing rules and regulations of the Water Code of the Philippines of 1979, the law states: “All easements of public use prescribed for the banks or rivers and the shores of seas and lakes shall be reckoned from the line reached by the highest flood which does not cause inundation or the highest equinoctial tide, whichever is higher. Any construction or structure that encroaches into such easement shall be ordered removed by the [Secretary] of Public Works.”
In Boracay, the BIATF is following a municipal ordinance that mandates a 30-meter easement along the main white beach.
For his part, Interior Undersecretary Epimaco V. Densing III said he has already dispatched a team to El Nido, while he himself will go “next week to personally speak to the [Palawan] governor and mayor, and to see what are the violations in the area.”
He noted that Mayor Rosento had already reported what her government has been doing to address possible violations by beach establishments. “It was reported that there were violations in easement and building are being constructed without building permits. Again, these are governance issues so that’s why we are going there to check their ordinances, if the establishment are following the ordinances…the same thing we did in Boracay,” he stressed.
He added, even El Nido Resorts, which has gained a worldwide reputation for sustainable tourism, will not be spared from DILG’s inspections. “We have to gather the facts. I can’t say what we will do [if any violations are found in any establishment] until then.” El Nido Resorts operates in three islands – Miniloc, Pangalusian, and Lagen, and Lio Estates in El Nido town. The company is owned by the Ayala Group.
Densing likewise clarified that El Nido and Coron towns won’t be closed yet. “There is still no basis to close them,” he said. Interior Secretary Eduardo M. Año told Senate reporters on Monday that there were plans to close down Palawan beach resorts, specifically in El Nido and Coron, due to sanitary violations. (See, “Government poised to shutter Palawan beach resorts,” in the BusinessMirror, Nov. 13, 2018.)
As for Coron, Densing said he had received reports that resorts “were throwing their waste straight to the sea. And the mayor [Aljerico S. Barrascoso] admitted that he needed help to clean up the area.” He clarified though that the islands off the main town “appear to be clean.”
There are two resorts currently operating on separate islands – Two Seasons on Bulalacao Island and the Discovery Leisure Group on Dimaquiat Island. A third resort, to be operated by the Hennan Group, is slated to be constructed on Malcapuya Island. (See, “Government urged to consult with El Nido, Coron stakeholders before any closures,” in the BusinessMirror, Nov. 13, 2018.)
Meanwhile, DENR’s Antiporda said 22 establishments have already been closed down by the El Nido municipal government for various violations. “We declared a war against waste in El Nido today,” he enthused. “They are currently constructing their centralized sewerage system that will be finished in 5-6 months,” he added, “that’s why we gave them six months to comply.”
Image credits: Nonie Reyes