DENR evicts illegal settlers in El Nido
THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on Wednesday said as early as March this year, it had ordered a scion of the Zobel de Ayala family and her group to vacate timberland areas that they have illegally occupied within a protected area in Taytay town, Palawan province.
The DENR regional office in Mimaropa made the clarification after a Palawan- based environment group claimed that the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro) and the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) of the Malampaya Sound Protected Landscape and Seascape (MSPLS) had not acted on the matter.
The Nagkakaisang Tribu Tandolanon Barangay Pancol earlier reported that several large century- old trees were cut in Sitio Maypa, Barangay Pancol,
Taytay, Palawan.
DENR-Mimaropa Regional Executive Director Henry Adornado said the DENR —through Cenro Officer Allan Valle — issued a notice to vacate on March 3 to the group of philanthropist Beatriz Zobel de Ayala for violating the provisions of Republic Act (RA) 11038 or the “Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas System” or E-Nipas Act of 2018.
The law prohibits occupation or dwelling in any public land within a protected area, in this case the MSPLS, without clearance from the PAMB.
RA 11038 also forbids construction and maintenance of any kind of structure, fence and enclosure, as well as conducting any business enterprise within the protected area without prior clearance from the PAMB and permit from DENR.
“The PAMB has neither accepted from the respondents any application for tenurial instrument nor approved any construction of structures in the said area,” Adornado said.
He said the respondents also violated Presidential Decree 705, or the “Revised Forestry Code of the Philippines,” which prohibits occupation of timberland areas without the proper tenurial instruments issued by the DENR.
Adornado said Zobel de Ayala and her group were given 30 days from receipt of the notice to comply, “otherwise further legal actions shall be taken against them.”
He said the DENR had been monitoring the compliance with the eviction notice but was restricted due to the quarantine measures imposed to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.
He also pointed out that Felipe Valones, the chieftain of an indigenous peoples group who had written the DENR about the cutting of century- old trees within the protected area, was even furnished a copy of the notice to vacate issued by the Cenro.
When sought for comment, Zobel de Ayala, through her counsel Christopher Louie Ocampo, belied all the accusations against her.
“While we received word of a complaint filed by the Chieftain of the Indigenous Peoples about her alleged cutting of a tree in the area, this complaint has since been retracted. The complaint was not made on behalf of or in representation of the Indigenous Peoples ( IPs) in Taytay, Palawan,” said Ocampo in an earlier statement.
The lawyer added that Zobel de Ayala’s activities in Taytay are with the “full knowledge, consent, and participation of the [IP] communities” in the area.