The Department of Environment and Natural Resources Monday stood firm on its decision to issue an environment compliance certificate (ECC) for the establishment of a resort spa on Taal Volcano, virtually giving the green light for business ventures to come in to the world’s smallest active volcano located in Batangas. Environment Secretary Angelo Reyes said there is nothing in the law that proscribes the agency from granting an ECC to a business interested in investing in Taal Volcano even if it has been proclaimed a protected area under the category of Protected Landscape through Presidential Proclamation No. 906 in Oct. 6, 1996. The proclamation covers over 60,000 hectares of the island.

“Having an active volcano as tourist attraction is not new. Tourists even pay considerably just to see lava flows in many volcanoes in other places like Hawaii,” Reyes said in a press conference. “The Taal Volcano is declared a protected area but that does not preclude tourism activities there,” he added. “The presidential proclamation does not say that the area cannot be used for ecotourism.”

Sen. Pia Cayetano, on the other hand, wants to know how private individuals were able to get land titles to the areas surrounding Taal’s crater. Cayetano, chairperson of the Senate committee on environment and natural resources, noted that the volcano is supposed to be a protected area and therefore cannot be privately owned. “All comes down to one basic question: How come private individuals were able to obtain land titles to the volcano, which is supposedly part of the public domain?” Cayetano asked.

Reports quoting the DENR revealed that the volcano is titled to at least four families: Laurel, Mayuga, Manigbas and de Jesus. Reyes maintained that no permanent structures should be installed in the six-hectare project site, as recommended by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS). He also said that proponents of the project should make sure that only light and indigenous materials would be used to construct the resort spa.

“The spa project will be within a private property, said to have been titled since 1916. The Korean company bought the property from its owners. But even if the project will be within a private property, once public welfare is invoked, the government can step in,” he noted.

Review of firm’s compliance to permit

The DENR-Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) in Region 4-A (Calabarzon) issued on Nov. 8, 2006 an ECC for the establishment of the Taal Island Spa Resort Project, owned by Korean firm Jung Ang Interventure Corp., on Taal Volcano. The P72-million project will be constructed near the wall of the main crater of the scenic volcano, raising concern on its feasibility and safety.

DENR-EMB Region 4-A Director Alan Leuterio on Sunday said a review of the ECC issued to the project is in order, and that he might have to call back the review committee, for the re-evaluation of the ECC. However, Reyes Monday deflated Leuterio’s action plan and instead instructed a review of the compliance of the Korean firm to the ECC. “The ECC is a planning document, not a permit to construct. This means that a project may proceed but subject to certain conditions,” Reyes explained. “The ECC is some kind of a contract or an agreement, which failure of compliance may result in the issuance of notice of violation, or eventually a cease-and-desist order against the company.” Reyes ordered DENR regional executive director Eduardo Principe, Leuterio, former EMB-Region 4-A director Roberto Sheen whose signature appeared on the issued ECC to the Korean firm, and Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau (PAWB) director Mundita Lim to lead the review of the project’s compliance to the environment permit.

The DENR chief also directed the activation of a multi-partite monitoring team to join the review. He ordered the reviewing team to submit a report to him by Friday. “There are certain categories of a protected area. There are protected areas that are classified as watershed, which definitely cannot be issued an ECC, while there are protected areas that are classified as having multiple uses like being a tourist attraction, ecotourism, which may be granted ECC,” Reyes noted. Sheen, for his part, defended the issuance of the ECC, reiterating that the company complied with all the requirements under the law, including a geological assessment.

Meanwhile, Principe clarified that the ECC issued for the resort spa on Taal Volcano is not a first, since an ECC was also granted for a similar project in Camiguin Island. Principe said an ECC was granted to a resort spa also near the mouth of Mount Hibok-Hibok around seven years ago. He claimed that Mount Hibok-Hibok is also considered an active volcano.


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Considered as active pa ang Taal di ba? Di kaya delikado ito?