ooLast time we heard, the good mayor of Panglao Doloriech Dumaluan filed a motion for consideration, if he can still squeeze himself out of the hellhole he was in as a result of the finding of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Environment Management Bureau (EMB 7) involving the construction of a building in his beach resort.

If our information was correct, the Panglao mayor had already ran out of options vis-a-vis the motion for consideration so much so that the next question that comes to mind is whatever happens to the Cease-and-Desist Order. It may be recalled that the DENR-EMB 7 issued the CDO on Mayor Dumaluan after it was found out that the three-story building encroached into a portion of the 20 meter easement zone. Aside from this violation, the building in question was also found to have no ECC.

Considering that he is supposed to be the number one citizen of Panglao, it is expected of him that he should follow the law. The penalty meted out on Dumaluan was for him to pay the penalty of P50,000 in fine. The fine was imposed after he was found to have violated Presidential Decree No. 1586 otherwise known as the Philippine Environmental Impact Statement System Act.

We checked with the local DENR and the office of Provincial Legal Officer Handel Lagunay as to the fate of Dumaluan's CDO and what we got was that there seemed to be no definitive answer just as yet. Therefore, we ask. What took the DENR regional office so long to decide on Dumaluan's CDO? It's been more than one month since the CDO was issued but the DENR is apparently inutile in lifting a finger to the satisfaction of all interested parties. Since Dumaluan is a public figure, it should be clear to all and sundry that nobody is immune to the full sunburn of the law.