Bohol governor laments closure of Chocolate Hills resort, says residents deprived of livelihood

The governor of Bohol lamented the closure of the viral resort built in Chocolate Hills, saying it deprived residents of livelihood.

“The closure of resorts, while a victory for environmentalists, also casts a shadow on the livelihood of those employed there and the economic aspiration of the local community,” Bohol Gov. Enrico Aumentado told senators, as reported by The Philippine STAR.

“This is a brutal reminder that every environmental decision is also a social one, affecting real people with real needs,” he added.

Last March, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said it placed a temporary closure order on Captain’s Peak Garden and Resort in September 2023.

It also issued a notice of violation to the project proponent in January 2024 for operating without an environmental compliance certificate.

During the Senate committee hearings on the illegal construction of resorts and structures on legislated protected areas like Mt. Apo Natural Park in Mindanao and Chocolate Hills Natural Monument in Bohol, Aumentado said if the policy is at the expense of local tourism, “private owners” in the area should be compensated due to lack of “benefit from their land.”

“Before this area was declared a protected site, there were communities and farmland already,” Aumentado added. “These are places where they were born. These are their homes going back several generations.”

According to the Land Registration Authority, 5,652 titled properties span 7,860 hectares on Chocolate Hills.

If development is allowed, Aumentado said “guidelines should have no room for ambiguity,” especially about the roles of Protected Area Management Board members.

“The challenge is to protect the environment while nurturing the social fabric of our societies,” he said.

The governor’s statements didn’t sit well with senators, including Sen. Nancy Binay, who chairs the Senate tourism committee.

Binay said the local government cannot feign ignorance on the need to preserve Bohol as a protected area as it underwent the process of being declared a UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) Global Geopark.

According to its website, UNESCO Global Geoparks are “single, unified geographical area where sites and landscapes of international geological significance are managed with a holistic concept of protection, education and sustainable development.”

Bohol is the only Philippine tourism area with the title.

The Bohol resort became a hot topic on social media after a vlogger posted about it earlier this month. Social media users and lawmakers questioned the DENR and the provincial government of Bohol why a resort was allowed to be built in a protected area like Chocolate Hills.

Resort manager Julieta Sables, in an interview on TV5’s Frontline Pilipinas, stressed that they were permitted to run the business, which has been operational since 2019.

Last March 14, the resort announced its temporary closure, citing “maintenance and environmental preservation efforts.”

Proclamation No. 1037 declared the Chocolate Hills a protected area, designating it as a National Geological Monument and a Protected Landscape.

Section 20 of Republic Act 7586, or an Act Providing for the Establishment and Management of Natural Integrated Protected Areas System, states that it’s illegal to hunt, destroy, disturb, or merely possess any plants, animals, or products, dump any waste product, and alter, remove, destroy, or deface boundary marks or signs, among others.

This article Bohol governor laments closure of Chocolate Hills resort, says residents deprived of livelihood was originally published in PhilSTAR L!fe