House bill seeks new rules on Chocolate Hills

MANILA, Philippines — A bill has been filed in the House of Representatives seeking to adjust the existing law governing the management and protection of the world-renowned Chocolate Hills.

House Bill No. 10438 filed by Reps. Edgar Chatto, Maria Vanessa Aumentado and Kristine Alexie Tutor of Bohol and Jose Alvarez of Palawan delves on expanding the composition of the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) for the Chocolate Hills.

The move was prompted by the controversy over the construction and operation of the Captain’s Peak resort in Sagbayan town without necessary documents.

The resort had a swimming pool with water slides and cottages built near the slopes of the Chocolate Hills.

An expanded PAMB membership, based on the bill, will include the Department of Tourism, National Museum, Bohol’s UNESCO’s technical committee, representatives from the
 religious sector, environmental planners and architects based in the province.

It also includes representatives of the Senate and the House as ex-officio members without the right to vote but may exercise oversight functions in PAMB’s plans and program implementation.

The proposed bill recognizes the rights of the lot owner situated within the protected area, although “no expansion will be conducted and the owner is listed as tenured migrant.”

The bill, however, allows owners of titled lots to reap plants trees, fruit trees and other agricultural crops and engage in small-scale livelihood projects.

The Chocolate Hills has been expanded from just the three towns of Carmen, Batuan and Sagbayan with some 1,267 hills to the adjacent towns of Valencia and Sierra-Bullones with a total count of 1,776 hills.

If approved, the proposed bill would amend the National Integrated Protected Areas System law and the expanded NIPAS Act that govern the management of Chocolate Hills, one of the important features of Bohol’s designation as the only global geopark in the country.