ENVIRONMENT ‘Save Bantayan, Mactan from becoming a Boracay’

Secretary Roy Cimatu of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) ordered officials to inspect the seas off Bantayan Island and Mactan to check if what happened to Boracay is not happening in these Cebu destinations.

In a press conference, Cimatu said that Cebu owners of houses and buildings will be penalized if they are found to have connected their sewerage system to public canals or drainage systems of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

“That is not supposed to be the case because they have to maintain a treatment plant. Anything that goes to the sea must be treated first. This had happened in Cebu. I saw the canals with mud and dirt,” Cimatu said.

He said local government units (LGUs) in Metro Cebu must do their mandate by preventing owners of houses and buildings from releasing their wastes to public drainage systems without treatment facility.

“The media should help me on this matter by reporting any violation,” Cimatu said.

Cimatu will meet officials of the Department of Tourism (DOT), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and DPWH to tackle solid waste and pollution issues.

He said that after the meeting, he will proceed to Boracay to implement their plan.

In Panglao, Bohol, he said the LGUs there have learned a lesson from what happened in Boracay.

“I think, on their own, they were doing their job properly because the DILG secretary is contemplating to file the necessary charges against the LGU for violating the law,” Cimatu said.

Local government units (LGUs) in Metro Cebu are urged to stop owners of houses and buildings from releasing their wastes to public drainage systems without treating these first.