{"id":152979,"date":"2018-02-15T04:36:53","date_gmt":"2018-02-15T09:36:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=152979"},"modified":"2018-02-15T04:36:53","modified_gmt":"2018-02-15T09:36:53","slug":"dilg-to-investigate-local-execs-over-boracay-woes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2018\/02\/15\/dilg-to-investigate-local-execs-over-boracay-woes\/","title":{"rendered":"DILG to investigate local execs over Boracay woes"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Boracay<\/a>
Boracay Island (Photo By: Alexey Komarov, CC BY 3.0<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) is conducting an investigation into the possible accountability of local government officials over environmental issues in the island of Boracay, Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo A\u00f1o said on Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe local government is accountable for the crisis faced by Boracay. They should have enforced environmental laws as well as their own local ordinances,\u201d A\u00f1o said in a press release.<\/p>\n

On February 12, President Rodrigo Duterte accused local government executives in the popular White beach of being responsible for pollution in the area. He said that he would file complaints against them for \u201cserious neglect of duty\u201d as they were not able to maintain a clean environment.<\/p>\n

The President also said that these officials are being too \u201czealous\u201d in approving construction of various commercial establishments on the island without proper sewerage system.<\/p>\n

The local government chief pointed out that the presence of business establishments, some beyond the prescribed gap from the coastline, would not be possible without construction and building permits issued by the local government unit (LGU).<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy did the LGU allow establishments to be built in areas classified as forest lands? Why did the Barangay issue the necessary clearances? This we intend to find out and soon,\u201d A\u00f1o said.<\/p>\n

The Interior and Local Government Secretary warned that administrative and criminal charges will be filed against government executives based on the findings of the ongoing probe.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are expediting this and we will go where the evidence brings us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

As cleanup drive begins in the world-famous White Beach, Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu closed down 51 commercial establishments in the area for failing to comply with Clean Water Act, the Ecological Waste Management Act, and land use regulations.<\/p>\n

The order was issued after President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to close the popular tourist destination, calling it a \u201ccesspool,\u201d if the island\u2019s environmental woes will not be addressed in six months.<\/p>\n

Following the President\u2019s directive, the Environment Secretary also gave the local government a six-month deadline to address environment problems in the island.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will give you 6 months to clean up Boracay. LGU\u00a0ang may responsibilidad dito. Sila \u2018yung mga nagma-<\/em>manage\u00a0sa<\/em>\u00a0cleanliness (The LGU is responsible for this. They are the ones who manage cleanliness).\u201d<\/p>\n

While addressing the crisis in Boracay, A\u00f1o reminded other LGUs all over the country to \u201cshape up without waiting to be rebuked.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cKailangan pa bang masita bago umayos? Kailangan pa ba ng ultimatum galing pa sa Pangulo bago umaksiyon<\/em> (Do they need to be called out first before they shape up? Do they need an ultimatum from the President first before they take action)?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe gradual ruin of our environment is already being felt as calamities devastate the country many times in a year,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) is conducting an investigation into the possible accountability of local government officials …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":129831,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,95],"tags":[2747,13686,12727,16332],"class_list":["post-152979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-ph","tag-boracay","tag-department-of-interior-and-local-government","tag-eduardo-ano","tag-local-officials","mauthors-joanna-belle-deala","mauthors-philippine-canadian-inquirer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152979"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152979\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}