Marlin’s Beach Resort has a new deck for picnic tables extending out to the sea in Sta. Fe town, Bantayan. (CDN PHOTO/ PETER L. ROMANILLOS)
After typhoon Yolanda, a “no-build” zone is supposed to keep coastal families from rebuilding their homes 40 meters from the shoreline. But in Sta. Fe town, whose long shoreline of powdery white sand draws many tourists, several private resorts are busy rebuilding and even extending their facilities into the seawater.
At Marlin’s Resort, which Cebu Daily News visited two weeks ago, several meters of the foreshore has been reclaimed. An elevated deck of beach juts out into the water, propped up on a base of piled rubber tires.
Glass panels and concrete walls section off a cooking area in a section of the deck. The platform has picnic kiosks with chairs, tables and colorful umbrellas, for guests to use.
In a walking tour along the shore, CDN observed other new construction, including concrete houses-for-rent and existing resorts.
The Sta. Fe municipal council expressed alarm over the flurry of building permits being issued to resorts, existing ones doing repairs and new ones opening up.
“We welcome development but we should also implement the law,” Sta. Fe Councilor Ithamar Espinosa told CDN.
He was referring to a 2010 environment court order against any new developments or encroachment within 20 meters from the shoreline until a land use plan is completed for Bantayan island.
“But what will happen if the island is already developed but those benefiting are only the rich while the locals here continue to suffer?”
“Asa naman ni makadungo ang atong mga mangingisda gikan sa panagat kung mapuno na atong baybayon? (Where can our fisherfolk dock their boats if someday, our shoreline gets too crowded?)”
BUILDING PERMITS
The Sta. Fe municipal council summoned the municipal engineer to their session to explain this.
Municipal engineer Teodula Figuracion confirmed that her office has been granting building permits for new applicants, including resorts, but declined to identify them or show a copy of the permit.
“Anyway, these applicants have complied with the zoning requirements,” she told Cebu Daily News.
She said the permits were issued on condition that their “ECCs would follow” when the ban on its issuance is lifted. An ECC or Environmental Compliance Certificate is issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) stating a set of conditions to be followed to mitigate or reduce the negative impact on a project.
In Sta. Fe, one issue is that of fairness: By policy, no post-Yolanda rebuilding is allowed for coastal families who have to evacuate out of the “danger zone”, while business-oriented resorts are given permits to construct new facilities in the shoreline.
The other issue is enforcement of the law.
Espinosa said smaller resorts and houses-for-rent have sprouted along the coast in this side of Bantayan island. Bantayan sustained 80 to 90 percent damage on infrastructure and crops, when supertyphoon Yolanda made landfall on Nov. 8.
After Yolanda, residents are counting on tourism to get back on their feet.
“That is why a number of smaller resorts have started doing business even if there is a standing court order that prohibits it. (The municipal engineer) promised that she will act on those resorts because her office has the police power to implement laws,” he said.
Espinosa said a “clear violation” is being made of a standing court order issued by the Mandaue City Regional Trial Court four years ago.
The Mandaue court, which was designated to handle environment cases, issued a permanent order against any further issuance of ECCs for development in the island until Bantayan officials come up with a land use management plan for the area.
(The “green judge”, Marilyn Yap, who issued the May 12, 2010 writ of execution, has since been elevated to the Court of Appeals – Cebu station.)
Espinosa said at least three major resorts are violating the court order: Marlin’s Beach Resort, Coral Blue Oriental Villas and Suites and Yooneek Beach Resort.
Marlin’s and Yooneek were in the limelight four years ago, when a government wrecking crew, on orders of the court, demolished seawalls and kiosks there. They were among six Sta. Fe resorts cited for illegally encroaching in the beach.
The removal of the structures at the time was hailed a big victory by ecology advocates, who said the “mindless” tourism development in Bantayan had to stop, and that a comprehensive management plan to protect its rich marine resources must be set up.
Sta. Fe is the hometown of environmental lawyer Antonio Oposa Jr. who sued the resort for violating Presidential Decree 1067 or the Water Code of the Philippines.
The law prohibits the building of structures within the easement zone of a seashore, river or stream.
In Marlin’s Beach Resort, four picnic kiosks and a 100-meter wide seawall were taken down in 2010.
Nearby residents told CDN the resort started rebuilding and adding facilities a few months after supertyphoon “Yolanda” ravaged parts of the establishment. Before Yolanda, only umbrellas and chairs were placed on the beachfront. With its new elevated deck, the frontage is above sea level even during high tide.
However, Sta. Fe Mayor Jose Esgana, who was elected in 2013 for his first term, told CDN the deck was built before typhoon Yolanda.
The main resort of Marlin’s is closer to the edge of the coast than other structures along the town’s shoreline.
In Yooneek, blue plastic barrels are installed on their beachfront, apparently to act as a breakwater. The old concrete structures demolished by the DENR in 2010 are no longer visible.
In Coral Blue, the resort built low concrete walls along the sides of their beachfront which has elevated the area.
After the mass demolition in 2010, markers were installed by the DENR along the island’s shoreline to mark the 20-meter easement zones, said Edward Espinosa, a barangay kagawad in the poblacion.
But the markers were no longer visible when CDN walked the length of the beach with Espinosa to inspect the shoreline this month.
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