Shape up or face closure.
Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu issued this warning to commercial establishments releasing untreated wastewater and sewage into the waters of the world-famous Boracay Island.
Cimatu said that erring establishments are given two months to either connect to the sewage treatment plant of Boracay Island Water Company (BIWC) or install their own wastewater treatment facilities.
“The DENR is giving them two months to comply with the law. Otherwise, we will close them,” Cimatu said.
President Rodrigo Duterte recently ordered the environment chief to find ways to end problems besetting Boracay which he described as a “cesspool.”
He gave Cimatu six months to clean up one of the country’s top tourist destination or else the entire island will be shut down.
According to Cimatu, around 50 to 60 percent of all establishments in Boracay are compliant to Republic Act No. 9275 or the Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004.
“All the rest direct their pipes to the canals which drain to the sea,” he lamented.
Under R.A. 9275, establishments and households are mandated to dispose their septic wastes to a treatment facility.
Cimatu said that a notice of violation will soon be issued to establishments that are illegally connected or are not connected at all to the sewage treatment plant.
“We will give these establishments three to five days to respond. Otherwise, we will cut their water connections,” Cimatu warned.
Aside from the sewage problem, Cimatu said the DENR will also go after resort owners who have constructed buildings within areas classified as forestlands.
“Forestlands are no-build zones. What they have done is against the law,” Cimatu said, referring to Presidential Decree No. 705 or the Revised Forestry Code of the Philippines.
Cimatu said he had already issued a directive that no new environmental compliance certificates or ECC will be issued in Boracay to prevent the construction of new buildings there.
“For me, the law is the law. This is a different battle but this is our chance to rehabilitate Boracay,” he said. “Once all these problems are fixed, it will be a better Boracay,” he added. (DENR-PR)
