ILOILO CITY – The owner of a multi-million-peso resort and hotel allegedly being built on a wetland on Boracay Island has sued the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for stopping the construction of the property.

In a 49-page petition for declaratory relief filed before the Aklan Regional Trial Court Branch 5 recently, the Cebu-based J. King and Sons Company, Inc. sought a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction against the DENR's order stopping the construction of the Boracay Crown Regency Hotel and Convention Center.

Named respondents were Environment Secretary Jose “Lito” Atienza Jr., three other DENR officials and Malay town where Boracay is located.

The owner asked the court to bar the DENR from enforcing a Feb. 11, 2008 notice of adverse findings and cease-and-desist order against the construction of the hotel and the nullification of these orders.

It also asked the court to rule that the property is not covered by a moratorium on the new construction on the island. The petitioner is also seeking at least P1.5 million in damages and legal fees from the DENR.

But Atienza said they are standing by their decision and orders until ordered otherwise by the courts.

“It's their prerogative (to file a case). But we will continue to conduct a thorough investigation how they were able to secure permits and tax declarations for the area considered a wetland. This is the kind of abuse of the environment that is prevailing in Boracay,” Atienza said in a telephone interview.

The 450-room hotel is being constructed in an 11,000-square meter property in Barangay Balabag, one of three villages on the island-resort.

The DENR’s Environmental Management Bureau last month issued a notice of adverse findings against the hotel for undertaking construction work without an environmental compliance certificate, which is required for projects perceived to have a negative environmental impact.

The bureau also directed the hotel to halt construction because the property has been identified as a wetland.

DENR Regional Executive Director Lormelyn Claudio said field investigations and testimonies of long-time residents of the island back up their categorization of the site of the property as a wetland.

The petitioner also questioned the non-issuance of an ECC by the DENR.

The DENR had withheld the issuance of the permit after Atienza in August last year called for a moratorium on new construction projects, but the hotel owner said it was not covered by the moratorium because it applied for an ECC from September to August last year, months before a six-month moratorium on the issuance of permits for new construction projects was implemented on January 2, 2008.

The company said it started the construction of the hotel in November last year after the Municipality of Malay granted it building and other permits on Oct 10, 2007.

The DENR will file an opposition to the petition, Romeo Mijares, chief of the legal department of the DENR Western Visayas office, said.*NPB

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