Dino hopes court to allow housing in Bantayan Island

DINO

PRESIDENTIAL Assistant for the Visayas Michael Dino said he was confident the court will lift the injunction on the issuance of Environmental Compliance Certificates (ECC) for construction projects on Bantayan Island, northern Cebu.

Dino anchored his optimism on Presidential Decree 1818 which states that only the Supreme Court can issue an injunction on government-initiated projects.

Yolanda resettlement projects by the National Housing Authority (NHA) are affected by the existing hold order.

“I think the judge will lift the order against infrastructure projects on Bantayan Island,” he said following yesterday’s hearing on the petition to lift the injunction at the Mandaue City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 28 yesterday.

Among the requirements for lifting the order was a General Management Plan (GMP) approved by the environment secretary.

Dino said the plan was submitted by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to the court last week.

During the hearing, presiding Judge Mercedita Dadole-Ygnacio noted all the manifestations of the concerned parties including the DENR as well as Dino’s office and is set to issue a resolution on the case at hand.

Once the injunction is lifted, Dino said Yolanda resettlement projects in the towns of Bantayan, Santa Fe and Madridejos on Bantayan Island will move forward faster.

ECCs are a requirement for local government units to issue building permits for construction projects, both of which are essential in housing developments.

Last week, Dino went to inspect the status of resettlement sites in the northern Cebu towns of Daanbantayan, Medellin, and Bantayan.

He lamented that not one housing unit has been completed for turnover even after three years since Super Typhoon Yolanda wreaked havoc in northern Cebu.

During his visit, Dino said project contractors committed to turn over 240 housing units by mid-December, upon orders of President Rodrigo Duterte.

RTC Branch 28, then presided by judge and now Court of Appeals Justice Marilyn Yap, was the same court that issued the injunction against the DENR on the issuance of ECCs for construction works on the island years back.

The order stemmed from a petition by environmental lawyer Antonio Oposa against Marlins Resort in Santa Fe, one of three towns on Bantayan.

However, the court issued an injunction on the issuance of ECCs for projects on the whole island instead.