Rehabilitation Needed for Chocolate Hills Says DENR Chief
CHOCOLATE HILLS – Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo Loyzaga said Chocolate Hills in Bohol needs rehabilitation.
In recent days, Chocolate Hills has dominated the news on multiple local media platforms and various social networking sites. The resort gained widespread attention following the posting of a video by the vlogger ‘Ren The Adventurer’.
After the Captain’s Peak Resort sparked controversy online, several other resorts located within Chocolate Hills came under scrutiny.
Based on a report from Inquirer, Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo Loyzaga emphasized on Thursday the necessity of removing illegal structures within Chocolate Hills. Such actions are imperative to uphold Bohol’s recognition as the first global geopark declared by the United Nations in the Philippines.
“Most important at this point is if Bohol wants to keep its geopark status, it needs to have certain standards in terms of its development moving forward and part of that has to do with the rehabilitation of sites like this,” Loyzaga told the reporters during her inspection of structures within Chocolate Hills.
According to the report, Loyzaga was accompanied by Benhur Abalos, Secretary of the Interior and Local Government, who would conduct a separate investigation into the responsibility of officials permitting the construction of these buildings within a designated protected landscape.
Abalos and Loyzaga initially inspected Captain’s Peak Garden in Barangay Canmano, Sagbayan town. Within the resort, they observed a substantial swimming pool, cottages, and other structures nestled at the base of the Chocolate Hills, recognized as a protected landscape under the Expanded National Integrated Areas Protected System (Nipas) Act.
The Chocolate Hills, a prominent attraction in Bohol, is a marvel of geology, consisting of 1,776 mounds that turn brown during the dry season, spanning the towns of Bilar, Carmen, Batuan, Sierra Bullones, and Sagbayan.
Documentation revealed that the 10,068 square-meter plot, now occupied by Captain’s Peak, had already been titled before Edgar Button acquired the property in 2005.
Despite lacking an environmental compliance certificate (ECC) from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the resort managed to obtain a business permit from the Sagbayan local government in 2018, which was subsequently renewed in January 2024, only to be rescinded on March 14 amidst the controversy.
To restore the Chocolate Hills, Loyzaga suggested that the structures might need to be demolished. “Looking at this, it is very possible all of these will have to be demolished and restored because there is a disturbance in the ecology,” Loyzaga emphasized the need to bolster the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB), responsible for overseeing any developments within the Chocolate Hills, as it plays a crucial role in environmental conservation.
While PAMB comprises local officials, Loyzaga noted the necessity for technical expertise to effectively manage, decide on, and implement development plans.
Abalos proposed a review of PAMB’s organizational structure to ensure adequate checks and balances.
Loyzaga also indicated forthcoming changes in applications concerning protected areas, stating that local environmental offices would no longer handle such applications. Instead, they would need to pass through the DENR biodiversity bureau before being processed by the Environmental Management Bureau for ECC approval.
Regarding structures erected before the implementation of the Nipas Act, such as the Chocolate Hills Complex in the village of Buenos Aires in Carmen town, Loyzaga suggested that operators should consider employing the “mitigation hierarchy” to minimize environmental impact. “Let us preserve whatever we have … [A] protected area is [a] protected area,” Abalos said.