Posted on
August 18, 2013 11:05:59 PM [ BusinessWorld Online ]
DAVAO CITY --
Resort owners in the Island Garden City of Samal in Davao del Norte are
lobbying for a law that will restrict public access to shorelines in a bid to
ensure security.
Araceli L.
Ayuste, president of the Samal City’s tourism council, noted that Presidential
Decree 1067, or the Water Code of the Philippines, has exposed beach resorts to
risks.
Under the
law, resort owners are prohibited from building structures on shorelines within
20 meters; violators face a penalty of 10,000.
Resort
owners, in raising security concern, cited as example the 2001 bandit attack on
Pearl Farm, a resort owned by the Floirendo family.
Samal City,
whose nearest tip can be reached by boat from this city in less than 10
minutes, is considered a primary visitor destination in this part of the
country.
Ms. Ayuste
said the public should only be allowed to use shorelines, which the city
government has identified for public use, and not inside resorts.
But Felix T.
Alicer, regional director of the Land Management Services of the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources, said that by law, resort owners must allow
access to shorelines through their establishments.
“They are
even prevented from introducing structures [in the shorelines],” Mr. Alicer said,
adding the government has been lax in implementing the law.
He noted that
in Samal, resort owners have even cordoned off their areas including the
shorelines to prevent locals who refuse to pay entry fees.
Mr. Alicer
said that unlike the Samal resort owners, those in Boracay Island in Western
Visayas, have complied with the law.
Samal Island
hosts over a dozen beach resorts, from inexpensive facilities frequented by
local residents, to upscale enclaves such as Anflocor’s Pearl Farm. --
Carmelito Q. Francisco
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