DENR on Boracay mountain flattening: Partly fake news

Leones said these as a reaction to reports circulating that amid the ordered closure of the Boracay island to give way to its environmental rehabilitation by the administration, residents were questioning why a mountain area in Barangay Yapak was being leveled and the forest was being cleared. (PNA photo)

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said that the reports of ‘ongoing’ construction activities in a mountain area in Boracay are partly fake news.

“Yesterday, may pumunta doon sa lugar ng Ecoville. Wala naman, one month na. May nakita kaming backhoe doon, pero disassembled, nakakalas eh (Yesterday, some DENR officers went to Ecoville. There are no construction activities, it has been a month. There was a backhoe there, but it was disassembled),” DENR Undersecretary Jonas Leones said in an interview with Rappler on May 16, Wednesday.

“Medyo fake news. ‘Yung nakalagay sa Facebook na ongoing, kaya nataranta kami. Ang pakiusap lang din naming sana naman medyo accurate din ang information (It is partly a fake news… in Facebook that construction activities are ongoing, that is why were panicked. Our appeal is just we hope the information reported is accurate),” he added.

Leones said these as a reaction to reports circulating that amid the ordered closure of the Boracay island to give way to its environmental rehabilitation by the administration, residents were questioning why a mountain area in Barangay Yapak was being leveled and the forest was being cleared. The government’s order prohibited construction except for minor renovations on existing structures.

(Read: Reports say Boracay mountain is flattened, forest cleared)

All sources in the reports asked for anonymity but claimed that the construction activities have been ongoing even before the closure on April 26. Residents also alleged that a politician owned the space.

Leones in the same interview said that a “subdivision” was being constructed in the area before the closure, and claimed that the residents may have been confused and have related the mountain-flattening to the road widening project.

Earlier on Wednesday, a report by CNN Philippines said that Senator Cynthia Villar’s family owned the space through Vista Land.

(Read: Official says Boracay mountain leveling under Villar firm)

Villar’s property firm already denied that they were behind the construction activities.

“The area subject of our development is a developed resort with existing facilities. Moreover, it is our policy to respect and preserve the natural topography of the land. To do so it not only structurally sound but more importantly, environmentally friendly,” Vista Land & LIfescapes, Inc. Chief legal counsel Ma. Nalen SJ Rosero said in a statement on Wednesday.

She added that the image and videos online “do not pertain” to their project site.