A volcanic issue is threatening full scale eruption as Loay Mayor Rosemarie Lim-Imboy was headed for a collision course with the town parish priest over the construction of a Carmelite monastery in the panoramic Himontagon Hills which the Department of Environment and Natural Resources has released a cease and desist order. For now, the homily was likened to a “bully pulpit” as far as Rev. Fr. Blair Sabaricos, but it was feared that it may escalate into a full blown shooting war of harsh rhetoric if coolers heads fail to prevail upon the two protagonists. In several church homilies especially during the masses the dawn masses, the lady mayor observed the parish to have minced no words in attacking her person. With the conflict now reaching the ears of The Most Rev. Leonardo Medroso, D.D.,bishop of Tagbilaran, Mayor Imboy said she was upset that she was falsely accused of having a hand in withholding the permit for the monastery construction when it was the DENR which has the authority to issue the same.
This was confirmed by Nestor Canda, provincial environment officer, when he appeared before the Sangguniang Panlalwigan in answer to the complaint of Mayor Imboy being at the receiving end of the priest's tirades. In a press statement sent to the Post last night, Mayor Imboy said the monastery has already started its construction in Tocdog Ilaya in Loay but upon investigation by Municipal Engineer Peter Ilogon, it showed that it has no DENR clearance, a prime requirement when one destroys a mountain and put a building on it. The same press statement said that the mayor's office reported the destruction to DENR thru Canda. The PENRO wasted no time to investigate the matter. He recommended a cease and desist order after ocular inspection as it was determined that the stability of the soil was compromised triggering a possible landslide. Reports reaching the mayor's office indicated that the Carmelite sisters had not secure a building permit to construct the building.
The mayor's said, failure to secure a building and or mayor's permit, was a violation of the building code of the municipality. It also showed by subsequent investigations by representatives of the DENR that the flattening operations of the crown of the mountain lacked preventive measures against soil erosion. The same observation showed that every time it rains, the mud covers a rice field in Barangay Tocdog Ilaya. Mudflows from the mountain also flowed down the river and into the seashore of the town. During the consultative meeting with Gov. Edgar Chatto, chiefs of provincial offices and municipal mayors last January 7, 2010 at Bohol Tropics, Mayor Imboy informed her audience that it was the DENR which ordered the halt of construction activities in the monastery. Imboy made the calibrated disclosure to belie allegations from the parish priest and political enemies in Loay that she ordered the stoppage. When asked by the governor of Imboy's claim, Canda confirmed that the DENR indeed which ordered the closure. Canda said to date the DENR has not issued any clearance for the monastery adding that the matter was brought to the regional office and from there the sisters were given 60 days to comply the necessary papers.
But Canda said the 60 days had lapsed and the sisters didn't bother as promised to come back to beat the deadline to submit the papers. But the sisters as project proponent insisted that they were issued a CNC or Certificate of Non Coverage. When asked for a copy they could not present any. However, according to Mayor Imboy, granting that the proponent has a CNC clearance, the DENR was still recommending that they will secure an Environmental Compliance Certificate considering that the slope they planned to flatten was so steep. It was learned that in the ECC, a geological study is done to determine the base stability of the soil if it is fit for a building to be constructed. Mayor Imboy brought to the attention to the governor her monastery problem in Loay saying she was alarmed about the erosions especially now that its always raining.
DISAPPOINTMENT
In a subsequent interview with the feisty mayor regarding her running word war with the parish priest, she said she was disappointed that the church was used as the launching pad of the attacks against her. She clarified that contrary to allegations about her supposed failure to grant a building permit to the monastery, she made it clear that records show in her office, MPDC or anywhere else in the LGU, that there was no application for any construction at the proposed monastery site..
DENR ACTION
The intervention in the Loay problem was sought following a letter to the SP from concerned citizens of Loay asking for an investigation on the land leveling on top of Himontagon Hill. The letter was referred to the SP committee on environmental protection, chaired by board member Abeleon Damalerio. In a report rendered during last Friday's SP session, Damalerio said his committee found out that per the reports and presentation of the Municipality of Loay through Mayor Lim- Imboy and Canda, the Carmelite Sisters have not been able to present any document that would definitely show the legality of the construction activity at Himontagon Hills. However, since the Carmelite Sisters or any of their representatives were not present during the Committee Hearing held last Dec. 14, 2010, there was a need to verify with the DENR-EMB Regional Office regarding the alleged papers that the Sisters purportedly hold, which accordingly includes a Certificate of Non-Coverage, a document that exempts project proponents to secure the required Environmental Certificate of Compliance (ECC). Presenting the concerns of the Municipality of Loay during the committee hearing was Mayor Lim Imboy, together with Councilor Antonio Supanga, Sangguniang Bayan Member; Ms. Corazon C. Angub, Municipal Assessor; Engr. Peter Ilogon, Municipal Engineer and Engr. Ian Suyman, MPDC of the Municipality of Loay.
Meanwhile, soil erosion or degradation of the site had been reported and during rainy days, the erosion causes siltation in the rivers of Loay. PENRO Canda had ordered the construction of protective barriers on the site that may prevent the erosion and possible accidents like landslides. The SP investigation also came out with recommendations requesting the Bohol Environment and Management Office (BEMO), under OIC Leonilo Lafuente, to conduct a field investigation of the area and then submit the recommendation to the committee, copy furnished the office of the Governor, to address the need for immediate corrective measures on the site based on the apprehensions of the Loay Mayor. Mayor Imboy was also required to give the Committee a chronology of events in print, with the assistance of the MPDC, the Municipal Engineer, and the Assessor on the questioned construction of a monastery n Himontagon Hills, a site which has earlier been classified and reserved as a tourism destination. PENRO Canda was also asked to furnish a copy of the complete report that he had submitted to the Regional Office and to verify and confirm with DENR-7 whether there is indeed a Certificate of Non-Coverage for the project and the manner by which the CNC was secured and applied for.
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