Monterrazas de Cebu violated environmental legal guidelines

The atmosphere division has since issued a discover of violation with a stoppage order in opposition to the Monterrazas on November 10. Solely restore works for the retention ponds have been allowed to function on the property.

MANILA, Philippines – Laudemir Salac, the Central Visayas regional director of the Division of Setting and Pure Sources (DENR), revealed throughout a Senate blue ribbon committee listening to on Friday, November 14, that the controversial Monterrazas de Cebu violated the nation’s environmental legal guidelines.

The DENR earlier introduced that it had convened a joint investigation staff after studies of extreme flooding on November 4 in Barangay Guadalupe, Cebu Metropolis, introduced by Hurricane Tino (Kalmaegi) had been linked to ongoing improvement on the Monterrazas, which is positioned within the uphill space of the barangay.

The staff consists of members of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, the Environmental Administration Bureau (EMB), the Cebu Provincial Setting and Pure Sources Workplace, the Cebu Metropolis Setting and Pure Sources Workplace, and the native barangay chiefs of Guadalupe.

After the inspection, Salac stated their staff found that the Monterrazas had didn’t report the chopping of 734 bushes of their 140-hectare property.

“Mahigit pitong daang puno po ‘yung naputol na wala pong allow sa DENR (Greater than 700 bushes had been lower down and not using a allow from the DENR),” the regional director stated.

The chopping of bushes with out applicable license violates Part 77 of Presidential Decree No. 705 or the Revised Forestry Code of the Philippines.

Salac added that for this offense, the Monterrazas can be penalized with changing the 734 bushes by planting one other 73,400 bushes, each on their property and in different areas recognized by the DENR in extra of the accommodating capability of Monterazzas’ land.

Previous to this revelation, Eddie Llamedo, DENR assistant Central Visayas regional director for Technical companies, had stated in a Radyo Pilipinas interview on Thursday, November 13, that there have been 745 bushes within the Monterrazas, primarily based on their 2022 tree stock on the property; of the 745, solely 11 bushes remained as of this writing.

The DENR, by way of Llamedo and Salac, additionally disclosed that the Monterrazas had violated 10 out of the 33 circumstances in its environmental compliance certificates (ECC), a doc that certifies {that a} undertaking is not going to trigger undue hurt to the atmosphere. 

The offenses rely as a violation of Presidential Decree No. 1586, the regulation that established the Environmental Influence Assertion System.

Among the many violated circumstances is the corporate’s failure to safe a wastewater discharge allow, which can also be a separate violation of Republic Act No. 9275 or the Philippine Clear Water Act of 2004.

Monterrazas contributed to flood

Salac confirmed that the Monterrazas contributed to extreme flooding being skilled within the areas that had been within the downstream path of its property.

The regional director advised lawmakers throughout the Friday listening to that 2 out of 17 retention ponds within the Monterrazas collapsed, which later contributed to the heavy floods that hit Barangay Guadalupe on November 4.

Based mostly on the DENR’s preliminary findings, there have been traces of sediments discovered within the ponds’ waterway because of the uncontained floor runoffs from the event inside their undertaking.

It’s price noting that there was an ongoing improvement of movie star engineer Slater Younger’s The Rise at Monterrazas within the Monterrazas de Cebu. 

“Para po sa kaalaman ng committee at ng publiko, cease na po ang operation ng Monterrazas de Cebu (For the knowledge of the committee and the general public, operations on the Monterrazas de Cebu have stopped),” Salac stated.

The DENR has since issued a discover of violation with a stoppage order in opposition to the Monterrazas on November 10. Solely restore works for the retention ponds have been allowed to function on the property.

‘Bulag-bulagan?’

In the identical listening to, Senator Risa Hontiveros requested the DENR who signed the permits that allowed the property to proceed to develop within the first place and “why they had been ignoring accountability.”

“Sino po ba ‘yung nagbulag-bulagan sa DENR-EMB para ma-grant ang ECC neto (Who on the DENR-EMB turned a blind eye to grant them their ECC)?” the senator requested.

In response to Hontiveros’ question, DENR-EMB Central Visayas Director Victoria Abrera stated they don’t have a particular reply to who uncared for their duties as a DENR official, however assured that the Monterrazas’ ECC went by way of the entire technique of the environmental impression evaluation.

Abrera added that it went by way of 4 technical evaluations, public scoping, and public listening to, and acquired suggestions from an impartial physique in 2007 and 2024.

Submitting a case

In the course of the listening to, Salac admitted that there have been many developments within the highland areas of Cebu and vowed that the DENR would endeavor to probe the tasks there.

Within the meantime, the regional director assured the general public that they’d be submitting legal prices in opposition to the Monterrazas for the bushes that had been lower with out permits.

“Nalaman na namin kung sino ang presidente ng kompanya, ang sabi po nila, meron silang subcontractor. O sige, kasama na ang presidente, whoever is the proprietor of the subcontractor,” Salac stated.

(We already know who the president of the corporate is, and so they stated they’ve a subcontractor. Okay then, we’ll embody the president, whoever is the proprietor of the subcontractor). – Rappler.com