00:00 Some structures in protected areas like Chocolate Hill in Bohol and Mt. Apo Natural Park were left in the Senate.
00:08 It seems that the barangay leaders used them in their projects.
00:11 According to a senator, Ian Cruz was involved.
00:15 In the construction of structures in Chocolate Hill in Bohol and other protected areas of the country,
00:23 Chairman of the Senate Environment and Natural Resources and Climate Change has a theory.
00:28 We saw here in Chocolate Hill, all the barangay captains approved.
00:34 There's no one else.
00:35 Yes, Madam Chair.
00:37 I think the barangay captains used them to get it approved.
00:41 A decision is also being made on the permit of the Protected Area Management Board or PAMBI.
00:47 It has no executive director, it's now Environment Assistant Secretary Gilbert Gonzalez.
00:52 It's not safe for the senators.
00:54 Even though there's no one to sign, after that, it will be up to him as Regional Executive Director.
01:04 It's not because I was absent at that time.
01:08 I didn't sign this alone.
01:10 This went through the process, it went through the Central, through the PASU,
01:14 it went through the ARD for Technical to review whether this document is valid or qualified.
01:20 In Mt. Apo National Park, senators questioned how the 67 structures
01:26 could be affected even if only 6 have an Environmental Compliance Certificate or ECC.
01:31 It's like a light punishment to the structures in the protected areas even if it's prohibited.
01:37 The penalty of 50,000 shouldn't cure the violation.
01:42 PAMBI and ECC also issued a penalty, so it's glaringly wrong.
01:50 If the system will be like that, this violation will be repeated.
01:57 According to the DNR, the issuance of a permit to more than 200 protected areas across the country
02:04 is now a national office and not a regional office.
02:09 The approval by regional offices of ECC applications for projects within PAS is now suspended until further notice.
02:17 The Masungi Geo Reserve in Tanay, Rizal was also mentioned in the hearing.
02:21 It was only built because of the memorandum of agreement it entered,
02:25 along with the DNR, a few years ago.
02:28 The DNR consulted with the Justice Department.
02:31 We do have an opinion from the DOJ at this moment that actually says that it is unconstitutional.
02:37 We are in the process of cancelling the...
02:41 We've recommended actually the cancellation of the MOA.
02:45 In a post, the Masungi Geo Reserve announced the imminent cancellation of the MOA
02:50 which is a warning and a reminder of their project when it comes to the caretaker of the environment.
02:56 For GMI Integrated News, Ian Cruz, Katutok, 24 Hours.
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