Lawmakers seek probe into Chocolate Hills resort

The House of Representatives’ Makabayan bloc filed a resolution, seeking a probe, in aid of legislation, into Captain’s Peak Garden and Resort in Sagbayan town after social media users voiced concerns about the impact of the resort’s operations on Chocolate Hills, a protected area.

Captain’s Peak temporarily closed its doors to the public after the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said it had issued a temporary closure order in September 2023 and a notice of violation in January 2024 to the resort’s administrators for operating without an environmental compliance certificate (ECC).

“The construction of the Captain’s Peak Resort near Chocolate Hills raises serious questions on the enforcement of regulatory mechanisms of the national government and local government, as well as on possible infractions on several laws and issuances by the DENR,” read the resolution filed by Reps. Arlene Brosas (Gabriela Women’s Party), France Castro (ACT Teachers Party-list), and Raoul Manuel (Kabataan Party-list).

Rep. Erwin Tulfo (ACT-CIS Party-list) is also set to file a resolution seeking an inquiry into the matter. He likened the resort to a “kulugo” or wart.

“They ruined the view… It looks ugly now,” Tulfo said, adding they need to investigate why permits were granted despite the protected status of the Chocolate Hills.

Sen. Nancy Binay, who chairs the committee on tourism, filed on Wednesday a resolution seeking a probe into the construction of structures within the vicinity of the Chocolate Hills, “with the end in view of preserving Bohol’s protected area and major tourist attraction.”

“It is the duty of the Senate to help protect and maintain the natural, biological, and physical diversities of the environment particularly in areas with biologically unique features to sustain human life and development,” she said.

No ECC

The local government of Sagbayan revoked the business permit of Captain’s Peak Garden and Resort, the town’s information officer Felito Pon said in an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel.

In a separate interview with GMA News, Pon said the local government did not receive a temporary closure order from the DENR.

“We didn’t know that there was a temporary closure order. If we had known about the temporary closure order, the resort’s application for renewal would not be approved,” Pon said in Filipino.

In 1997, former President Fidel Ramos declared the Chocolate Hills, a unique karst landscape composed of 1,776 smooth conical hills, a natural monument. This designation aims to protect and maintain the area’s natural beauty.

Under Proclamation 1037, “no activity of any kind including quarrying, which will alter, mutilate, deface or destroy the hills shall be conducted” regardless of the existence of prior private rights.

But according to the DENR, the rights of landowners will generally be recognized and respected if land titles were issued prior to Proclamation 1037.

However, restrictions or regulations on land use and development within the protected area may be imposed even for privately-owned lands.

Julieta Sablas, the administrator of Captain’s Peak Resort, admitted the resort lacked an ECC.

“Yes, we had lapses in our ECC. We were not able to process it. However, for the construction, we had a permit from the local government unit and the [DENR’s] Protected Area Management Board (PAMB),” Sablas told TeleRadyo Serbisyo in Filipino.

“We’re taking care of the Chocolate Hills,” she added.

Sablas earlier told The Freeman that some parts of the hills were extracted, but she said the excavation was only minimal and within the permitted limits.

Bohol Island, home of the Chocolate Hills, was declared in 2023 as the first UNESCO global geopark in the Philippines. — Gaea Katreena Cabico