Before imposing P50T fines…

DENR, resort owners set a 30-day ECC deadline

ESTABLISHMENTS and resort owners remiss in securing the necessary Environmental Compliance Certificates (ECC) for their structures have only a month to process their applications before the Department of Environment and Natural Resources swoops in on them. Failure to do so would mean at the very least, P50T mandatory penalties for every violation or at most, a possible Environment Secretary ordered closure of establishments, said newly assigned Bohol Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officer (PENRO) Edgardo Inting.

Less than two weeks after the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) implemented a rigodon of personnel in the region, observers have noted a flurry of implementation in environment protection activities, feeding speculations that the reshuffle has something to do with the adamance of former environment officials to implement the law. Last Thursdays technical conference for establishment and resort owners called by the DENR Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) set the final deadline for a 30-day compliance, said Bohol EMB head Nestor Canda.

The root of the troubles is an existing law, the Presidential Decree 1586 or the Environmental Impact System Law, which also works in tandem with Republic Act 7160 or the Forest Protection Act. Coming in fresh to assume the seat of the Penro Arius Ilano whom, speculations floated later said could have been booted for non-implementation of the environmental compliance requirements from resort owners, Inting said he has no qualms about implementing the penalties.

In Tagbilaran City and in Panglao Island where some estimated 15 resorts and establishments still have to secure ECC for existing or ongoing projects, Bohol EMB Canda said they have issued the last warning. Last warning means the 30-day period for ECC compliance before the DENR would zero in on recommending to the Environment Secretary Angelo Reyes the closure of resorts and establishments. The movement was seen as a positive action by the DENR after Secretary Reyes has responded to the concerns raised by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on the apprehension that a new Boracay rises in Panglao. Apart from the ECC requirements, the President also wants the DENR to implement the salvage zones, a way to keep resorts from crowding at the beach edges.

According to the law, a regulated 3 meters, 20 meters and 40 meters salvage zones are identified according to local land use plans as inalienable. Within these areas, no solid man-made structures should be erected. Moreover, included in the PENRO schedule for immediate disposition is the ocular inspection ordered by Governor Erico Aumentado on a reported illegal cutting or mangroves in a reserve apportioned by Panglao. Gov. Aumentado also ordered the PENRO to immediately file cases should they find culpable violations on the reported environmental molestation.

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