9,518 Houses For Yolanda Survivors In Bantayan Island Ready For Construction
Construction of houses for survivors of super typhoon
Yolanda in Bantayan Island can now proceed.
The Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 28 has directed the
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to resume the issuance
of certificates of non-coverage and environmental compliance certificates on
all constructions and projects in Bantayan Island.
With the court order, the 9,518 housing units for Yolanda
survivors can now be built by developers accredited by the National Housing
Authority (NHA) without any legal impediment.
Of the 9,518 housing units: 3,520 are for the Municipality
of Bantayan; 3,693 for Madridejos; 2,305 for Sta. Fe.
Not a single house has been completed three years after the
typhoon struck on November 8, 2013.
Presiding Judge Mercedita G. Dadole-Ygnacio issued the order
after the DENR submitted the General Management Plan (GMP) for Bantayan Area
Wilderness Area (BIWA).
As this developed, Presidential Assistant for the Visayas
Michael Lloyd Dino said the court order will pave the way for the construction
of the houses for the families displaced by the typhoon.
The court order was issued nine days after Dino visited
Bantayan Island and discovered that a mandamus stalled the construction of the
housing units.
Furthermore, the housing projects were delayed because the
island was declared a wilderness area, and permits for the construction
projects could not be issued.
In the order, the court incorporated in the GMP the new
supplemental plan for easement zones and the amended easement zone plan,
together with the memorandum signed by DENR Secretary Regina Lopez approving
the GMP.
The court considered this as full compliance with the
court’s order dated September 30, 2013.
Moreover, records showed that on September 30, 2013, then
RTC 28 Presiding Judge Raphael Yrastorza Sr. issued a permanent protection
order and continuing mandamus enjoining defendant DENR from accepting,
processing and approving applications for certificates of non-coverage and
environmental compliance certificates on all constructions and projects in Bantayan
Island until the GMP is approved by the DENR secretary and until the agency
complies with RA 7586.
During a conference on August 17, 2016, lawyer Antonio Oposa
Jr. and other petitioners reiterated that they do not object to the
resettlement projects provided that these are outside the protected area.
The DENR undertook to submit the required supplemental plan
as stated in the memorandum dated January 11, 2016 for the BIWA and a
certification that the proposed resettlement area of the NHA is outside the
protected area in Bantayan Island, which was both granted by the court.
On September 1, 2016, DENR filed a manifestation and motion
together with a certification dated August 19, 2016 stating that the proposed
sites applied by NHA under the Typhoon Yolanda Permanent Housing Program are
presently within the multiple-use-zone of BIWA under Presidential Proclamation
2151.
However, the project will be outside the protected area
under the proposed amendments of BIWA.
In the hearing last November 29, the DENR finally submitted
the original copy of the memorandum of Secretary Lopez approving the GMP of
BIWA, including the required supplemental plans, finding that all requirements
are completed.
Dino said he expects a massive and continuous construction
of all Yolanda housing units with the court order for DENR to accept process
and approve the certificates.
Last month, the NHA-accredited land developers promised Dino
that they will turn over 103 houses in Bantayan town, 36 units in Daanbantayan
and 31 units in Medellin during the Christmas season.
9,518 Houses For Yolanda Survivors In Bantayan Island Ready For Construction
Reviewed by Yen
on
December 03, 2016
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