Government agencies quizzed on fishponds in Hundred Islands

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan, Philippines  – The provincial government wants to know why government agencies with oversight functions over the Hundred Islands National Park (HINP) are sitting on their jobs on the continuous presence of fishpond structures in the tourist destination.

Provincial administrator Rafael Baraan, in a press conference the other day, said they want to know why the Department of Agrarian Reform Adjudication Board (DARAB) has unresolved up to now the case filed by the Philippine Tourism Authority and other agencies against the Bolo Development Corp. (Bolodeco).

The DARAB reportedly conducted its last hearing on the case 10 years ago.

Bolodeco was granted a certificate of land ownership award in the early 1990s that segregated 46 hectares of the HINP where it could operate fishponds.

“Why is the DARAB sitting on this case? What’s the reason, its justification?” Baraan asked.

Baraan also wondered why the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has not entered into the picture, and enforced its regulatory power over the fishponds in the national park, as mandated under the National Integrated Protected Areas Act.

“If the HINP is under the direct control and supervision of Alaminos, maybe they should also do something about this,” Baraan added. “Who gave (the fishpond operators the) permit to operate?”

“There are many questions here and it looks like some agencies in government are either doing something against the law or (are just) sitting on their jobs,” he added.

He said Task Force Kalikasan, which was formed by Gov. Amado Espino Jr. to look into river systems in the province, discovered the fish structures in the national park during an aerial survey.

“What’s wrong with the provincial government trying to look deeper into these structures and why these operations have continued without being regulated and without the benefit of legal authority?” he said.