NBI files complaints vs. Boracay resorts, Aklan officials

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has filed criminal complaints against six Boracay resort operators and developers and several town officials over environmental offenses including alleged encroachment on forest lands.

Five complaints filed before the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday and Friday accuse the respondents of violating the Revised Forestry Code of the Philippines, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, the Local Government Code of 1991 and in one case the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998.

The charges were filed months into the rehabilitation of Boracay, a popular tourist destination which was closed to the public until October over environmental issues. 

Charged with offenses in relation to unlawful occupation or destruction of forest lands are Denichi Boracay Corp., Correos Internacionale, Inc., Seven Seas Boracay Properties, Inc. Boracay Tanawin Properties, Inc., Boracay Island West Cove Management Philippines, and Yooringa Corp.

Officials of Malay town in Aklan were also tagged in the complaints, including Mayor Ceciron Cawaling—who was included in four out of the five complainants—and former town mayor John Yap, who figured in three.

Also named in the complaints in differing frequencies were the town's engineer and building official, assessor, and several others.

The complaints were filed by the Boracay Inter-Agency Task Force, through the NBI Environmental Crime Division, which was tasked to investigate environmental degradation in Boracay on orders by Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra.

Apart from unlawfully occupying Boracay forest land, Seven Seas, one of the charged companies, also encroached on wetland, the NBI alleged.

The bureau further said the alleged illegal acts were committed by the different companies and executives in two Malay barangays in varying dates and ranges: December 2016 (Denichi), January 2014 (Correos and Seven Seas), April 20, 2007 to present (Boracay Tanawin), September 2014 (West Cove), and from 1999 to present (Yooringa). —NB, GMA News