DENR to dismantle restaurant built by Korean at Taal Lake

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is set to dismantle a restaurant built by a Korean businessman on the lake bed of Taal Lake next week.

DENR-CALABARZON executive director Reynulfo Juan said the move to dismantle the restaurant came after the company, Taal Volcano Jung Ang Leisure Resort, Inc. (TVJALRI), failed to submit appropriate permits for the construction and operation of the restaurant during a technical conference called by the DENR last June 27.

As a result, Taal Volcano Protected Landscape (TVPL) Protected Area superintendent Laudemir Salac issued a cease and desist order (CDO) against TVJALRI.

“Along with the CDO, the company was also given a week to vacate the restaurant before the scheduled dismantling next week,” Juan said.

Juan, who also sits as chairman of the Protected Area Management Board of the TVPL, said the DENR regional office is now coordinating with the provincial government of Batangas, the local government of Talisay and other concerned entities to assist in the dismantling operation.

Juan reported to DENR Secretary Ramon Paje that the Korean company had already earlier been issued a Notice of Violation by Salac for the construction of the restaurant, an extended facility of the Buco Resort of Taal Volcano, without the necessary permits in violation of the National Integrated Protected Areas System Act.

However, on May 24, 2012, a certain Kim Young Ok of TVJALRI wrote a letter to Salac “requesting for a reasonable period to verify the status of their operation” relative to the violations cited in the notice.

“But during the technical conference on June 27, the officials of TVJALRI failed to show any appropriate permits for the restaurant,” Juan said.

He stressed the decision to dismantle the restaurant was a result of a series of investigative actions conducted by the DENR since May of this year, wherein TVJALRI had been accorded due process.

This included the issuance of the Notice of Violation and the conduct of a meeting that allowed the owners “to bring with them all their permits and clearances to verify their veracity and to determine the legality of their structures,” Juan said.

The owners, however, were not able to present any such documents.

Juan explained the dismantling of the restaurant and all other illegal structures in the lake is also in keeping with the lake’s management plan crafted by local government units and other stakeholders to preserve not only the ecosystem but also its important biodiversity, notably the tawilis and maliputo, fish which are endemic to the lake.

He also said the dismantling of illegal structures in Taal Lake has been a continuing activity of the DENR since June 12, 2008, in coordination with the Task Force Taal Lake created by the provincial government of Batangas.

As of May 4, 2012, Juan said a total of 7,375 fish cages and other floating structures within the lake had been dismantled.

The Taal Volcano Protected Landscape was proclaimed a protected area in 1996 under Presidential Proclamation No. 923.