DENR orders removal of 84 business firms and 262 homes in El Nido within 30 days

April 7, 2018

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) directed  business owners and residents “to voluntarily remove the structures they have built and to vacate the areas they occupied in timberland” before May 5 in El Nido, Palawan.

Owners were given 30 days to remove 84 business establishments and 262 homes to comply, otherwise they shall be referred to the office of the El Nido mayor or charged before the court.

“We have to be consistent in the application of the law, all those who violate must be made accountable,” DENR Regional Director Natividad Bernardino said in a statement on Friday.

DENR cited violation of the Revised Forestry Code of the Philippines and the National Integrated Protected Areas Systems Act, which prohibit unauthorized occupation and conduct of activity in any forestland, Proclamation No 32, Series of 1998 which declares El Nido as a protected area, and the Water Code of the Philippines, which prohibits occupation of the 40-meter salvage zone in river banks, sea shores and lakes within timberland.

According to the Land Classification Map certified on September 7, 1935, Barangays Corong-corong, Buena Suerte, Maligaya, Masagana, and Bebeladan where  structures are located are timberland.

DENR has coordinated with the local government of El Nido, which promised to remove structures still on easement zone after April 11.

Only two establishments, Sonny Sail and TTD Store, have complied with the demolition order. DMS