With mangrove cutting ban on, 

B'vista clearing, illegal - DENR 

TAGBILARAN CITY, May 25 (PIA)—“There was no permit, and there was no clearance,” clarifies Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officer Eusalem Quiwag on the reported destruction of mangroves for a development project in Sta. Cruz Buenavista, Bohol. 

Quiwag, who led the initial investigation to gather information about the reported clearing May 4, told members of the Provincial Peace and Order Council and the Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Council meeting jointly May 25, that while there is a Special Land Use Permit (SLUP) applied for 4.824 hectares by Concrete Solutions Incorporated, the DENR did not issue any permit to cut mangroves. 

Section 4 of Republic Act 7161 has always been explicit about the ban on cutting all species of mangroves, while section 43 of PD 705 says all mangrove swamps set aside for coast protection purposes shall not be allowed for clear-cutting operations. 

Last week, a netster tagged Bohol media personalities and uploaded the photos of cleared coastal areas which used to be mangrove forests and put in a tag; slaughtered mangroves. 

Netster, who identified himself as Johny Gaspar, alleged that the project was for either a reclamation or a shipyard. 

His document attachments however showed that Concrete Solutions had applied for a SLUP from the DENR for a dry-dock development as early as September 2017. 

Concrete Solutions representative Francis Patrimonio claimed that their company’s purpose is for business enterprise, income generation, government revenues, and educational, social and mass employment of locals. 

CENRO Roldan Cotejo, in his letter to Concrete Solutions through representative Patrimonio, reminded the company of the applicable laws and called them to a technical conference May 25. 

In fact, according to the DENR survey team mustered to check on the reports, they found out that much of the cleared area is not part of the Concrete Solutions SLUP. 

Quiwag, who showed the council members the extent of the damage via a drone aerial shot and google maps, pointed to the total damaged areas reaching 6.359 hectares, most of it outside the area which Concrete solutions applied to be converted into a shipyard and dry-dock. 

Included in the damage caused by cutting are 2.979 hectares of mangroves within the Mangroves and Beach Forest Development Project (MBFDP), a Department of Environment and Natural Resources Project (DENR) to rehabilitate and reconstruct mangroves in disaster-affected areas. 

Also ruined are 2.969 hectares of mangroves within DENR identified forest lands, 1.056 hectares of mangroves planted within private alienable and disposable lands and 1.027 upland areas in private alienable and disposable lots.

According to the DENR, the clearing hit at least four private lots, which the government authorities identified as 23041, 3042, 3043 and 3060. 

The clearing also had demolished at least three houses: owned by Jaime Torrejas, Jonsa Torrejas and Ian Torrejas: owners obtaining no tenurial instruments as none were issued for mangrove areas, according to Quiwag. 

The DENR, who still has to identify the perpetrators said they will start thorough investigations, taking the details they have gathered in their initial investigations. 

DENR, he said can start in getting the identities of the perpetrators with the owners of the demolished houses and the owners of the adjoining lots which are owned by Pastora Torrejas, Placedo Daon and Gregorio Enriquez. 

Along this, Governor Edgar Chatto stressed on the provincial policy, that no project shall run counter to the environment. 

And lest the leaders would be called anti-development, Chatto clarified: we are pro development, but we shall continue to preserve the environment. 

In times when there is a need for a compromise, he said there would always be consultations. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)

PENRO Eusalem Quiwag reports to the PPOC the details of the initial survey they conducted over the reported illegal cutting and clearing of foreshore areas in Sta. Cruz Buenavista, to give way to a dry-dock facility. The DENR has yet to investigate further to identify the perpetrators. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)

The shaded area is that which Concrete Solutions Inc applied for Special Land Use Permit (SLUP) while the perimeter line showed the limits of the cleared mangroves, which are still supposedly protected and can not be cut with the ban on. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol/DENR Bohol)