Boracay resort owners hit demolition

A resort owner in world-famous Boracay denounced yesterday the demolition of his fence and the fences of two other adjoining resorts by a group that the owner said has questionable powers and did not even have a court order.

Businessman Orlando Sacay, who owns the Waling-Waling Beach Hotel, said the demolition led by Connie Padilla of the Eminent Persons Group, of which Sacay is a member, was a violation of the status quo order issued by a court in Kalibo, Aklan on Nov. 28.

"Don’t they have respect for the rule of law anymore? Are we not supposed to follow the court? Where do we go now? What will be our recourse?" he asked. Two other resorts — Willy’s and Niggy-Niggy — were also demolished by EPG.

According to Sacay, Padilla’s group has "no power to demolish" because the EPG was only created by President Arroyo through Memorandum Order 213, where the EPG and Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA) were tasked to "manage" tourist destinations like Boracay.

"It should have been an executive order, but even then, it cannot transfer power because the Local Government Code is a law. We have a status quo order and this should be followed," he said.

The issue regarding their purported "encroachment" of government property along the street has been the subject of a status quo order, which is respected by Mayor Ceciron Cawaling of Malay town where Boracay island is located.

Sacay said he is still in the process of checking whether the mayor ordered the demolition or not, in view of the presence of a dozen cops. Padilla, whom Sacay branded as "arrogant," told them that only a phone call from Cawaling would stop the demolition.

"She ignored the court order that we showed them. She told us it was not addressed to her but to the mayor. But I doubt if (the) mayor ordered it, because he was in court when the order was given," Sacay said. "It would be in blatant violation of the order if he ordered it."

He said it is basic that nobody can demolish any property without a court order, without any compensation and without any authority to do so: "In our case, we even offered to buy the other side (around 120sqm) at P8,000 per square meter."

"We’re going to file criminal and administrative charges against this arrogant Padilla," Sacay said. "Under what authority is she doing the demolition? Why was she accompanied by some 12 policemen?"