PIt took Sec. Angelo T. Reyes to put things in order in Panglao. Now I know that he means business. Less than a week after Sec. Reyes was confronted with the environmental issues in Bohol , especially what is obtaining in Panglao, when he came here the other Sunday to speak before the members of the League of Provinces, the Regional Office of DENR here suddenly found the courage and the strength to let the law take its course.

We are referring to the much-publicized issue on the wanton violation by Mayor Doloreich Dumaluan, owner of Dumaluan Beach Resort in Bolod, Panglao, of P.D. 1586 otherwise known as the Philippine Environmental Impact Statement System Act and its Implementing Rules and Regulations. He has continuously operated his beach resort without an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC). More than that he also violated the Municipal Ordinance adopting the PITE Guidelines on height limitation requirement for buildings in the beach zone when he constructed a three storey building that subsequently was also found by the PENRO of Bohol, in his memorandum to the Regional Director, to have encroached a portion of the 20 meters easement zone.

In the same memorandum, the PENRO also reported that the septic tanks were also constructed within the 20 meters easement in violation of the law. The only document he could present for the construction of the three-storey building is a building permit that he himself caused to be issued to him, again, in disregard of the requirements prior to the issuance of the building permit that includes issuance of ECC and favorable endorsement from the Review and Development Committee of PITE.. While other businessmen must pass through the eye of the needle to get a building permit, the rules indubitably change when it is the Mayor who needs it.

What perplexed the public is the fact that the Mayor seemed to have found the key to the ultimate use of power when it comes to his interests. Not even official notices from the legal department of the Provincial Government of Bohol and from the Review and Development Committee of PITE could move him to reconsider. Not even a case filed against him at the Ombudsman could change his views about what and how power can get him what he wants.

He must have been emboldened by the fact that he was able to construct the other buildings of his resort without the required ECC being officially released. Records at the DENR Regional Office show that the ECC he is waving, supposedly authorizing the construction of the other buildings whenever he is asked, was never released because of an unpaid penalty of P15,000.

But things have changed now. On June 21, 2006, that is three days after the visit to Bohol of Sec. Reyes and being briefed about the issues in Panglao, OIC Regional Director Allan C. Arranguez of DENR-7 issued a Notice of Decision/Resolution of EIA CASE NO VII-2006-04-007B entitled IN THE MATTER OF VIOLATION OF DOLOREICH A. DUDMALUAN FOR OPERATING HIS TOURISM PROJECT KNOWNS AS DUMALUAN BEACH RESORT WITHOUT AN ENVIRONMETAL COMPLIANCE CERRTIFICATE (ECC). The Resolution was released the next day.

The dispositive portion of the Resolution states “WHEREFORE, viewed from the light of the foregoing, this Office finds respondent-proponent to have violated PD 1586 and its implementing rules and regulations specifically Section 11.2 of MC No. 01 dated January 15,2005, he is hereby meted the penalty of Fifty Thousand (PHP50,000.00) Pesos aside from the fine imposed by this Office in its Resolution dated 21 April 2005 and directed to cease and desist from further implementation of the project. The ECC application, which was processed for the project is hereby suspended.”

The Chief of the EIA Division of the Regional Office was directed to execute the Order in 72 hours and to report the proceedings within 48 hours from execution. This only resolves the case for the violation involving the construction and operationalization of the old buildings. The case involving the three- storey building is still to be resolved. To us this proves to all and sundry that absolute power is all a myth and that no one is above the law or can think that he is the law himself.

Sec. Reyes successfully impressed to his subalterns that DENR after all has the power to enforce the law. How he made his people understand this we are not privy anymore, but we learned it was in not so sweet words during his meeting with them in one of the restaurants of a friend in Tagbilaran City . We would like to see it as a catch up measure to regain the people's trust for government and for DENR. Unfortunately this catch up measure caused the transfer of PENRO Arius Ilano to the regional office and the swapping of assignments of Tagbilaran CENRO Alipio Llorente and Talibon CENRO Moreno Tagra. Mr. Eduardo Inting now acts as the PENRO for Bohol .

What remains to be seen now is whether Mayor Dumaluan will comply with the CDO or defy it like what he did to the previous orders from other agencies of government to show that he is supreme in his turf. But whether he will comply or defy, the people already know where to look for proper action on any environmental issue in the future. Not withstanding this new development, though, we may not have seen yet the resolution to this issue in Panglao. As we have said in our previous column, this is an excellent case study in the use of power. For now the study continues.