Home 
Environment lawyers are expecting resort owners to fight the court order to clear structures along the shores of Bantayan Island.
?I think the resort owners will fight it. They will be asked to pay for the cost of demolishing the illegal structures in their area. We are also asking them to voluntarily tear down these structures,? said environment lawyer Benjamin Cabrido.
Cabrido said he would meet with DENR officials next week to come up with a strategy for the demolition of structures that have encroached the 20-meter easement zone along the coastline of the town of Sta. Fe on Bantayan Island.
He said the DENR should present a comprehensive management plan for the Bantayan Group of Islands in preparation for the implementation of the demolition.
?We would demand that they (DENR) follow the procedure in formulating the Protected Area Management Plan (PAMP) to the letter,? said Cabrido.
He said he would not accept the ?Initial Protected Area Plan? that the DENR already submitted for the Bantayan Group of Islands.
?They should come up with the plan according to the NIPAS Act,? said Cabrido, referring to Republic Act No. 7586 or the National Integrated Protected Areas System Act.
A group of environment lawyers filed a petition for patrimonial malpractice, mandamus, injunction and damages with Judge Marilyn Lagura-Yap, the designated Environment Court Judge in Mandaue City.
Bantayan Island is protected by two special laws: Presidential Proclamation No. 2151 of 1981 declaring the island as a protected area and Presidential Proclamation No. 1234 declaring Tañon Strait a protected seascape.
Judge Yap has issued a temporary restraining order, stopping the DENR?s Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) from accepting, processing and approving applications for Environmental Compliance Certificates on constructions and projects on Bantayan Island until the PAMP is accomplished.
Last Tuesday, the court also ordered the demolition of all structures within a 20-meter easement from Bantayan?s shores.
Cabrido said Judge Yap?s decision was the ?first judicial decision and interpretation of the Water Code of the Philippines.?
?This is also the first decision, resolution or order that carried photos. This would make the job of the sheriff... easier. They just have to use the photos to identify what would be torn down,? he said.
Judge Yap inspected resorts around Bantayan Island last May 18, accompanied by Cabrido and DENR lawyers.
The resorts included Abaniko Beach Resort, Tickety Boo Beach Resort, Yooneek Beach Resort, Kota Beach Resort, Marlin?s Beach Resort and St. Bernard Beach Resort.
Structures to be demolished include seawalls, fences and cottages from these six resorts.
The DENR is expected to conduct another inspection in the next 60 days. The agency is expected to come up with a report 30 days after the inspection.
Sta. Fe Councilor Roger Ilustrisimo said town officials wanted the demolition suspended until a solution could be found to ?balance environmental protection with the protection of investments? in the town.
?Sometimes, we also have to ask if which one should be given more importance: the protection of the environment or personal property,? the councilor said.
Ilustrisimo, the town?s former mayor and husband of incumbent Mayor Jennifer Ilustrisimo, said town officials had yet to receive a copy of the decision.
But he said he was confused with the implementation of the 20-meter easement.
The councilor said the whole of Bantayan Island was already declared a protected area, which made him wonder about the need for another order to enforce a 20-meter easement.
He also said some of the seawalls built by resort owners were meant to protect the shorelines from erosion.
