CAPAS, Tarlac- Almost five months after six people, including three tourists, were killed by rampaging waters on the slopes of Mt. Pinatubo, a Korean investor and the local government here have defied authorities by again offering treks to the volcanic summit and building new structures at the crater area.
Reynaldo Garcia, chief of the Environmental Impact Assessment Division of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) regional office said the EMB issued a “cease and desist” order to the Korean firm Pull Travel Destination Corp. (PDC) which operates a spa and the trekking project after the tragic accident on the slopes last Aug. 6.
The PDC was given permit by the Capas municipal government to operate in Barangay Sta. Juliana in this town where the trek to the crater starts, municipal tourism officer Marissa Velasquez admitted in a telephone interview.
She also admitted the PDC started accommodating tourists for Mt. Pinatubo treks way back last October, despite the lack of the required environmental clearance certificate (ECC) from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
Ronaldo Tiotuico, regional director of the Department of Tourism (DOT), said he and officials from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) have been against the resumption of treks to the summit of Mt. Pinatubo whose two-kilometer wide crater lake was created by the volcano’s historic eruption in 1991.
“It’s still dangerous,” he said, even as he also criticized the development of the so-called “skyway”, a path which has shortened the trek to the crater, and the construction of structures in the area of the crater.
“We prefer that nature remain untouched there, because of the historical significance of Mt. Pinatubo’s eruption,” he said, amid the construction of new pathways and other structures at the summit.
“This reminds me also of Korean investors who had to be told to stop constructing buildings in a danger zone near Taal volcano,” Tiotuico said.
Last Aug. 6, the PDC issued permits for seven French, one Belgian and three Korean nationals to climb Mt. Pinatubo via Sta. Juliana here. Heavy rains caught up with them on the summit, and on their way down, two of the French nationals and the Belgian, as well as three local folk who tried to rescue them were later swamped by the rampaging waters of the Sacobia River. The bodies of some of the victims were found dismembered downstream.
The Regional Disaster Coordinating Council (RDCC) ordered the suspension of all treks to Mt. Pinatubo, even as the PDC’s lack of clearances from various government agencies, including the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, surfaced.
The local police later exonerated the local government and the PDC from any responsibility, saying the accident resulted from an act of nature. The municipal government, headed by Mayor Rey Catacutan who is running for Congress, gets shares from earnings from the PDC operations.
The controversy on the re-opening of the trekking project, however, seems to also extend to the operations of the Korean firm PDA. Mabalacat, Pampanga tourism officer Guy Hilbero said the firm has been issuing mere provisional receipts and charging tourists “exorbitantly”.
Hilbero showed Punto! a “provisionary receipt” issued to him by PDC when he accompanied two jeeploads of tourists for a volcanic trek last Dec. 13. The PDC charged him P5,000 fee for the two 4X4 jeeps, P1,000 “skyway fee” for the two vehicles, P1,000 for two tourist guides, and P2,700 “conservation fee” or P300 each for the nine tourists in his party.
“The receipt issued to me was worthless and the fees are ridiculous,” he said, noting that before, conservation fee cost only P50 per person.
Hilbero also said that Aeta tribal groups were not consulted on the PDC project, contrary to the provisions of Republic Act. 8371 or the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act that requires “free and previous consent” of cultural minorities on any development of lands traditionally regarded as their ancestral domain. He insisted that Mt. Pinatubo is historically considered as such domain.
Velasquez admitted that the EMB’s cease and desist order has remained effective, but insisted that it was issued to the PDC which was merely barred from making any physical changes on Mt. Pinatubo. The order, she said, did not prohibit the sending of tourists to the volcanic crater.
She admitted, however, that minimal structures have been put up by the Korean investor to rehabilitate the “skyway” and the area of the crater lake.
“The manager of PDC is Carmelito Supan, a Filipino who used to be the assistant of Tourism Director Tiotuico, so he knows what’s supposed to be allowable in the development of the area despite the cease and desist order,” she said.
Velasquez also said customers of PDC could ask for official receipts either from the Korean firm or from her office. “It could be that official receipts were locked up at that time Hilbero came with his guests,” she said.
She also said that local Aetas get some share from the fees imposed on tourists and that their shares are coursed through their barangay chairmen.
Garcia said that while the order signed by EMB regional director Carlo Magno did not prohibit trekking to the volcano summit as this is beyond the authority of his agency, it barred any development on Mt.Pinatubo. He noted that earlier, the EMB imposed a fine of not more than P50,000 on the PDC for operating without an ECC.
“Up to now, no ECC has been issued either to the PDC or the Capas local government for any tourism enterprise at Mt. Pinatubo,” he stressed.
Velasquez said that the local government and PDC officials have solicited the help of Tiotuico in seeking ECC and other such requirements from national government agencies.
But Tiotuico denied this, saying the “skyway” is vulnerable to being eroded as it is based on lahar deposits which can readily be loosened during rains.
A trek to the summit usually starts on board a hired four-wheel powered jeep at the PDC in Barangay Sta. Juliana which reaches a foot trek after one and a half hours. A trek on foot towards the crater itself has been shortened from 45 to only 15 minutes by a new route developed by the PDC.
A few days before storm Ondoy devastated Metro Manila last Sept. 26, Punto! got a text invitation from the Capas miunicipal government for the resumption of Mt. Pinatubo treks after the Aug. 6 tragedy on the volcanic slopes. The activity was, however, cancelled amid announcement that Ondoy was coming.
Reynaldo Garcia, chief of the Environmental Impact Assessment Division of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) regional office said the EMB issued a “cease and desist” order to the Korean firm Pull Travel Destination Corp. (PDC) which operates a spa and the trekking project after the tragic accident on the slopes last Aug. 6.
The PDC was given permit by the Capas municipal government to operate in Barangay Sta. Juliana in this town where the trek to the crater starts, municipal tourism officer Marissa Velasquez admitted in a telephone interview.
She also admitted the PDC started accommodating tourists for Mt. Pinatubo treks way back last October, despite the lack of the required environmental clearance certificate (ECC) from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
Ronaldo Tiotuico, regional director of the Department of Tourism (DOT), said he and officials from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) have been against the resumption of treks to the summit of Mt. Pinatubo whose two-kilometer wide crater lake was created by the volcano’s historic eruption in 1991.
“It’s still dangerous,” he said, even as he also criticized the development of the so-called “skyway”, a path which has shortened the trek to the crater, and the construction of structures in the area of the crater.
“We prefer that nature remain untouched there, because of the historical significance of Mt. Pinatubo’s eruption,” he said, amid the construction of new pathways and other structures at the summit.
“This reminds me also of Korean investors who had to be told to stop constructing buildings in a danger zone near Taal volcano,” Tiotuico said.
Last Aug. 6, the PDC issued permits for seven French, one Belgian and three Korean nationals to climb Mt. Pinatubo via Sta. Juliana here. Heavy rains caught up with them on the summit, and on their way down, two of the French nationals and the Belgian, as well as three local folk who tried to rescue them were later swamped by the rampaging waters of the Sacobia River. The bodies of some of the victims were found dismembered downstream.
The Regional Disaster Coordinating Council (RDCC) ordered the suspension of all treks to Mt. Pinatubo, even as the PDC’s lack of clearances from various government agencies, including the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, surfaced.
The local police later exonerated the local government and the PDC from any responsibility, saying the accident resulted from an act of nature. The municipal government, headed by Mayor Rey Catacutan who is running for Congress, gets shares from earnings from the PDC operations.
The controversy on the re-opening of the trekking project, however, seems to also extend to the operations of the Korean firm PDA. Mabalacat, Pampanga tourism officer Guy Hilbero said the firm has been issuing mere provisional receipts and charging tourists “exorbitantly”.
Hilbero showed Punto! a “provisionary receipt” issued to him by PDC when he accompanied two jeeploads of tourists for a volcanic trek last Dec. 13. The PDC charged him P5,000 fee for the two 4X4 jeeps, P1,000 “skyway fee” for the two vehicles, P1,000 for two tourist guides, and P2,700 “conservation fee” or P300 each for the nine tourists in his party.
“The receipt issued to me was worthless and the fees are ridiculous,” he said, noting that before, conservation fee cost only P50 per person.
Hilbero also said that Aeta tribal groups were not consulted on the PDC project, contrary to the provisions of Republic Act. 8371 or the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act that requires “free and previous consent” of cultural minorities on any development of lands traditionally regarded as their ancestral domain. He insisted that Mt. Pinatubo is historically considered as such domain.
Velasquez admitted that the EMB’s cease and desist order has remained effective, but insisted that it was issued to the PDC which was merely barred from making any physical changes on Mt. Pinatubo. The order, she said, did not prohibit the sending of tourists to the volcanic crater.
She admitted, however, that minimal structures have been put up by the Korean investor to rehabilitate the “skyway” and the area of the crater lake.
“The manager of PDC is Carmelito Supan, a Filipino who used to be the assistant of Tourism Director Tiotuico, so he knows what’s supposed to be allowable in the development of the area despite the cease and desist order,” she said.
Velasquez also said customers of PDC could ask for official receipts either from the Korean firm or from her office. “It could be that official receipts were locked up at that time Hilbero came with his guests,” she said.
She also said that local Aetas get some share from the fees imposed on tourists and that their shares are coursed through their barangay chairmen.
Garcia said that while the order signed by EMB regional director Carlo Magno did not prohibit trekking to the volcano summit as this is beyond the authority of his agency, it barred any development on Mt.Pinatubo. He noted that earlier, the EMB imposed a fine of not more than P50,000 on the PDC for operating without an ECC.
“Up to now, no ECC has been issued either to the PDC or the Capas local government for any tourism enterprise at Mt. Pinatubo,” he stressed.
Velasquez said that the local government and PDC officials have solicited the help of Tiotuico in seeking ECC and other such requirements from national government agencies.
But Tiotuico denied this, saying the “skyway” is vulnerable to being eroded as it is based on lahar deposits which can readily be loosened during rains.
A trek to the summit usually starts on board a hired four-wheel powered jeep at the PDC in Barangay Sta. Juliana which reaches a foot trek after one and a half hours. A trek on foot towards the crater itself has been shortened from 45 to only 15 minutes by a new route developed by the PDC.
A few days before storm Ondoy devastated Metro Manila last Sept. 26, Punto! got a text invitation from the Capas miunicipal government for the resumption of Mt. Pinatubo treks after the Aug. 6 tragedy on the volcanic slopes. The activity was, however, cancelled amid announcement that Ondoy was coming.
