The Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has admitted that there were lapses in monitoring the reclamation project in Coron, Palawan.
At the Laging Handa briefing, DENR Undersecretary Jonas Leones raised the possibility of filing charges if there had been violations to environmental laws emphasising that officials of the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO) and Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) should have been more diligent in monitoring the progress.
RELATED STORY: “Parang Boracay”: Filipinos in UAE laud Manila Bay rehabilitation project
“Nakikita nga rin namin iyan na mayroong kaunting lapse doon dahil dapat nakikita ng ating CENRO (Community Environment and Natural Resource Officer) or PENRO (Provincial Environment and Natural Resource Officer) in the region iyong progress noon kanilang gawain doon,” Leones said.
“Although talagang it’s hard to admit – medyo nagkulang tayo sa pagtingin doon kasi pinabilis eh. Parang ang nangyari kasi during the pandemic…doon sila nagmadali kung saan talagang busy tayo sa pag-address ng COVID-19…Noong makita natin, noong nalaman natin, talagang malaki na pala iyong nare-reclaim nila diyan sa Coron,” he added.
The DENR earlier revoked the environmental compliance certificate (ECC) of the 48-hectare reclamation project in Coron, Palawan due to a lack of permits and Leone said that the proponents of the project should have “faithfully” complied with environmental regulations.
“Dapat nagsu-submit sila ng report, mga updates…Nagkaroon ng lapses on the part of the proponent,” Leones said.
READ ON: Manila Bay’s water quality shows improvements via rehabilitation – DENR
“Ang total kasi ng reclamation doon ay dapat 48 hectares…Can you imagine, 40 hectares na, base sa report, ang kanilang na-reclaim. So, iyon ang nangyari diyan,” he added.
“Because bigla silang nagmadali at marami ang nasira, hindi natin na-monitor, kung kaya nakita natin na malaking paglabag ito sa ating relokasyon kaya kinansel nila iyong mga permits na na-issue ng ating department sa kanila,” he also said.
“Titingnan natin kung may malaking pananagutan sila, kung mayroon silang violations sa provision ng mga batas na ito. At tinitiyak namin na hindi lang administrative sanctions ang ibibigay namin sa kanila, kundi pati kriminal kung makita namin na dapat silang kasuhan sa korte,” the DENR official said.
