There is a day of reckoning for everything under heaven. Many people do not believe it is so. The basis for disbelief is simply because there are a lot of people who seem to have been spared from such a fate. Such disbelief is of course a matter of opinion at best. We have seen tyrants come and go. Many of them went away hounded by the heckling of enraged citizens who found their voice too late. While some appear to have flown the coop before the roof caved in, appearances can be deceiving. An object of interest following the fall from grace of former Panglao Mayor Doloreich Dumaluan is whether he will be able to continue defying the laws of the land as he did in his heydays. Dumaluan had brazenly disregarded environmental laws before he occupied the most powerful seat in the town and even more so when he did. Any claims to the contrary fly out in the face of the fact that he built a two-storey building within spitting distance of the waves in complete violation of the Water Code of the Philippines prohibiting structures within the 20 meter salvage zone. There are those who would naturally seek refuge in the argument that he is not the only one guilty of this violation. There is no doubt about that.

The argument however hardly merits serious consideration because figures are not the issue. The irony is not lost to many that while most of the violations were committed by people who were ignorant of the legal restrictions, Dumaluan deliberately disregarded the law in spite of the uproar triggered by those who sought reprieve from the application of the law. For Dumaluan, the law is only for those who would comply with it. After all, he was untouchable. And as though to mock his critics, his resort continues to be untouchable even though he has already been toppled from his perch. Dumaluan however should not be too secure about his position. For one, while he seems to have held the Department of Environment and Natural Resources by the nose, it won't be the government agency that he would be dealing with. One of the powers invested on local chief executives by the Local Government Code is the power to enforce the law including those on illegal structures like the building standing squarely within the easement area. Dumaluan should have learned the lessons about changing fortunes of the tide and how this principle could lead to the demolition of the illegal structure arising from the loss of his power. Unless he succeeds in buying off his arch-rival, which is unlikely, it is only a matter of time before bells toll for his building.