The DIOCESE of Tagbilaran, Monsignor Alberto Uy, recommended to the faithful to maintain the Chocolate Hills park in the province of Bohol, one of the most outstanding Global Geoparks in the world, declared by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
The bishop arrived here after photographs of the Captain’s Peak hotel in the town of Sagbayan, part of the Chocolate Hills Heritage Site, went viral on social media on March 13.
“It is vital for us Boholanos to recognize and value the exclusive gifts bestowed upon us, adding the ordinary good looks of iconic landmarks like the Chocolate Hills,” Uy said in his March 14 social media post.
The hills extend through Carmen and Batuan and consist of around 1,776 mounds of the same general shape.
The structure of the station caused a stir among the public and environmental groups, who called on the government to lock the station.
“I am pleased to see an increasing number of Boholanos taking on the vital duty of caring for our precious creation. This emerging awareness is in our collective adventure towards a sustainable future,” the bishop added.
Bohol Gov. Aris Augmented said he had already made his way to the Captain’s Peak hotel in the Chocolate Hills region in September 2023.
Alexie Tutor, a representative from Bohol’s Third Congressional District, also noted that “the station should have been allowed to be built in the first place. “
The MP called for the demolition of the station.
“A hotel in the middle of Chocolate Hills deserves nothing but appropriate action by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Department of Tourism. This begs the question: can an herbal wonder be suitable for personal purposes? Lawyer Aaron Pedrosa, leader asked the president of the multisectoral organization Sanlakas.
On July 1, 1997, the defeated President Fidel Ramos signed Proclamation No. 1037, marking the Chocopast Due Hills, with an area of more than 50 square kilometers, an area.
On May 24, 2023, UNESCO declared Chocolate the first Geopark in the Philippines, adding it to the list of 195 Geoparks in 48 countries around the world.
According to the DENR, they issued an order to temporarily close the station on Sept. 6, 2023, while a violation for operating without an environmental compliance certificate issued on Jan. 22, 2024.
Meanwhile, station control told reporters that it had received permits for the construction of the station, for the certificate of environmental compliance required through the DENR.
The resort, which features a full-size pool, slides, and other amenities, opened smoothly in 2019 after obtaining an operating license from the local government unit in Sagbayan.
Construction was halted in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The full operation of the station was completed in 2022.
Speaking to the media, the hotel’s director, Julieta Sablas, called for an investigation into any other hotel under construction in the Chocolate Hills area.
The Ministry of Tourism stated that the hotel “is not a tourism status quo accredited under the auspices of the Ministry of Tourism’s accreditation system, and there are no pending accreditation programs for it. “
“During the dry season, when rainfall is insufficient, the grassy hills turn chocolate-colored, hence its name in reference to a branded confectionery,” UNESCO said.
The formation of the Chocolate Hills is the result of thousands of years of erosion of limestones from what was once a thick accumulation of coral reefs that thrived in the Pliocene era about 2 or 3 million years ago, he adds. (Ronald O. Reyes/SunStar Philippines)
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