DENR in pathetic belated frenzy in Boracay

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources is conducting a resort-to-resort inspection in Boracay. And according to reports, a good number of the resorts have been promptly issued show-cause orders for a number of violations -from sanitation shortcuts to protected area encroachments. So gung-ho has the DENR become it is now threatening to target resorts in Central Visayas next.

But why are no people standing up and clapping? Why is there a dearth of appreciation for such a great job the DENR is doing? Because, dear reader, the great job the DENR is doing is a great job it should have been doing all the time instead of only now. Had the DENR been doing its job all the time and not only now, there would have been no need for President Duterte to threaten to close down what he has come to describe as a cesspool.

And the reason why the DENR is now rushing pell-mell to do a job it should have been doing all the time is because it fears the president will not only shut down Boracay but the concerned DENR offices as well. The DENR knows very well by now the temper of the president and the seriousness with which he takes his threats. So many people have already lost their jobs for misappreciating the president.

If Boracay has become a cesspool in the appreciation of Duterte, it could not be due to any other reason than that the DENR has been grossly remiss in its job of protecting the environment in which such a valuable asset as Boracay is situated. It is so easy to assign the blame on erring resorts and other establishments as it is they that commit prohibited acts and violations.

But even if these resorts and establishments have been profligate in their violations and omissions, these violations and omissions could not have happened, or at least easily rectified and corrected once they happened, had the DENR always been on its toes in accordance with its mandate. But there is only one thing that the situation in Boracay can tell us. And it is that Boracay is what it is now because the DENR had been looking the other way.

It is not correct to even say the DENR was caught napping because not only is Boracay such a very small place, it is also a very popular place. In other words, nothing could ever happen in Boracay that does not catch attention, especially of the authorities. And now the DENR is trying to project an air of all seriousness and urgency by also threatening to expand inspections to Central Visayas -like a security guard startled from sleep jumping up, gun drawn, pretending to be wide awake.