Tourism chief meets with Bohol guv over viral resort in Chocolate Hills
DEPARTMENT of Tourism secretary Christina Garcia Frasco met with Bohol governor Erico Aristotle Aumentado over the controversial construction of Captain’s Peak Resort at the iconic Chocolate Hills.
At their meeting, which took place on the sidelines of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PAT A) International Conference on Women in Travel, Frasco said the DOT wants to make sure that Bohol’s tourism is sustainable.
“Being blessed with this incredible, rich and beautiful resource comes with the enormous responsibility of ensuring it is maintained and conserved,” the secretary said.
She also said that the DOT hopes to be part of the Protected Area Management Board ( PAMB), so they can make recommendations on preservation and sustainable tourism development in the country’s protected areas.
For his part, Aumentado said that the local government unit (LGU) will create a new committee that will oversee and review guidelines on matters concerning investments and initiatives so that it would not hurt the environment.
“We’ll call it Review and Development Committee. [The] DOT will be part of this committee. Every time they will ask for PAMB clearance, they will pass through this committee,” he said.
The Depar t ment of Environment and Natural Resources said that it had already ordered the temporary closure of the now-viral resort in September 2023.
The controversial resort’s business permit has been canceled after it drew backlash and concern from netizens over its proximity to the Chocolate Hills, which were declared a protected area in 1997 to preserve its iconic landscape and promote sustainable tourism.
The manager of Captain’s Peak Resort said they were allowed to operate despite l acking an Environment Compliance Certificate (ECC).
House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez has ordered an investigation into a resort constructed in the Chocolate Hills. The Department of the Interior and Local Government, for its part, said it has formed a taskforce to look into the resort’s construction.