Aklan mayor, Cebu firm face raps over Boracay construction
The Field Investigation Office (FIO) of the Office of the Ombudsman has recommended the filing of administrative and criminal charges against the mayor of Malay town in Aklan and a Cebu-based property developer for the construction of a hotel on an alleged protected area on Boracay Island.
In a press statement posted at the agency's website, the Office of the Ombudsman said the FIO has forwarded for preliminary investigation the complaint filed against Malay Mayor Ciceron Cawaling, municipal engineer Elizer Casidsid and zoning administrator Alma Belejerdo.
It also recommended the filing of charges against officials of the Cebu-based J. King and Sons Company, Inc. including Jesus King, Barbara King, Richard King, John King and Rafael King.
The municipal officials and the property developer are facing charges of violating Republic Act 3019 (The Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, R.A. 1586 (An Act Proclaiming Certain Areas as Environmentally Critical) and Presidential Decree No. 705 (Forestry Code).
The FIO also recommended the filing of administrative charges against Cawaling, Casidsid and Belejerdo for gross neglect of duty, gross misconduct, and conduct grossly prejudicial to best interest of the service for their failure to stop the construction of a hotel owned by the property developer.
It also recommended that the three municipal officials be placed under preventive suspension to facilitate the conduct of the investigation.
The case stemmed from a complaint filed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) against the respondents related to the construction of the 450-room Boracay Crown Regency Hotel and Convention Center in Barangay Balabag.
The DENR alleged in its complaint that Cawaling and the municipal government gave undue advantage to the developer in issuing building, electrical, sanitary and plumbing permits despite a moratorium on construction projects on the island.
The agency pointed out in its complaint that the Malay municipal council had passed a resolution declaring the moratorium on construction in Boracay on September 26, 2007 but was signed by Cawaling only in October 24, 2007.
The implementing order was issued by Cawaling on January 2, 2008.
The DENR said that despite the municipal resolution, Casidsid issued building and other permits to the developer on October 10, 2007.
The hotel is also being built on an 11,000-square meter property that is considered a wetland and a no-build zone, according to the DENR.
The Ombudsman press statement said the complaint was backed by a physical assessment conducted by the DENR's Protected Areas and Wildlife Division which confirmed that the area is a wetland. The assessment said the area is characterized by slightly saline or brackish waters, lush shrubs and mangroves, and with various species of fish found in the area.
The DENR has blamed the construction on wetlands as the leading cause of flooding on the island that have worsened in recent months during following continued rains.
The respondents have repeatedly denied the allegations of the DENR.
In an earlier interview, lawyer Deolito Alvarez, legal counsel of the the J. King and Sons Company, Inc., denied that his client has violated any law or ordinance.
Alvarez said they were issued building and other permits by the local government even before the moratorium was implemented.
He also denied that the area where the hotel is being built is a wetland. He pointed out that the tax declaration of the the property would show that it has never been classified or categorized as a wetland.