BY CHRYSEE G. SAMILLANO
Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez ordered Home Invest Ventures, Inc., to cease and desist from proceeding with the ongoing embankment with slope protection in Purok Bayanihan, Brgy. Banago, Bacolod City, pending land survey by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
In his order dated September 9, Benitez said there is a need to verify the classification of the property and whether the activities being conducted on the area complied with applicable regulations on the particular class of land, as may be deemed by the DENR and government agencies.
A public hearing on the matter was conducted in Banago last week, attended by barangay officials and the affected residents, as well as some city officials led by Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran.
Councilor Vladimir Gonzalez, who owns the property, said the proposed reclamation project in Banago has not yet began while the Bacolod Reclamation Gateway Corp. (BRGC) is still processing the necessary permits. He only started the recovery project of the property he owns along the shorelines of Purok Bayanihan.
The reclamation project of the BRGC, however, has not yet been issued a Resolution of No Objection (RONO) by the barangay, he said.
The BRGC had earlier been issued a RONO by the Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod for a reclamation project in Banago involving an area of about 247.84 hectares.
Meanwhile, the composite team of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) of the DENR conducted an ocular inspection on the recovery activity being implemented in the property of Gonzalez in Banago.
The SP Committee on Laws and Good Government will also be holding a committee hearing upon the request of Banago Brgy. Capt. Ricky Mijares who raised several concerns concerning the recovery activity on the property of Gonzalez.*
