BORACAY DEMOLITION STARTS
The jarring sound of jackhammers and pounding of sledgehammers echoed shortly after 10 a.m. on Friday at the Boracay Westcove resort as workers started demolishing illegal structures at the resort.
Workers drilled and destroyed the concrete floor of decks built on top of rock formations in Barangay Balabag here.
Some foreign guests thought there was a shooting for a movie as cameramen of television networks hovered over the workers.
Property owner Crisostomo Aquino observed the demolition turning emotional at one time as he was being interviewed by reporters. “I worked hard for this,” he said.
Voluntary demolition
Aquino agreed to have the structures demolished after Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu came to his resort on Friday with a demolition team to remove the illegal structures.
Cimatu has been in Boracay since Thursday to oversee the crackdown on violators of environmental laws and regulations especially those illegally discharging wastewater, building of structures on wetlands and forest lands and encroachment on shoreline and road easements.
Cimatu said he hoped the voluntary demolition of illegal structures will “snowball.”
Two small establishments on the island have also volunteered to temporarily close their businesses until they have addressed violations.
The local government unit of Malay in 2014 demolished a portion of Boracay Westcove that was considered illegal but Aquino stopped the demolition by going to the courts.
Atienza’s permit
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources in the same year also canceled the Forest Land Use Agreement for Tourism Purposes (FLAgT) issued to Boracay Westcove in 2009 during the term of then Environment Secretary Jose “Lito” Atienza.
A FLAgT allows the temporary use, occupation and development of forest land for tourism purposes for a period of 25 years renewable for another 25 years.
Aquino filed an appeal at the Office of the President in October 2014 which remains unresolved. He has continuously denied any violations and insisted that he was being singled out.
The resort became controversial after it was rumored to be owned or partly owned by Sen. Manny Pacquiao. Pacquiao and Aquino have denied this.