Cynthia Villar reiterates all work in their Boracay investment have stopped

Senator Cynthia Villar reiterated Friday that all developments in Costa Vista, a condominium project in Boracay where her family has a business interest, have been stopped.

"I would like to reiterate and stress that all developments in our Boracay investment have long stopped," Villar, whose husband former Senate President Manny Villar heads Vista Land & Lifescapes, Inc., said in a press statement.

She added that as a public servant and chairperson of the Senate committee on environment and natural resources, she remains committed to protecting and preserving the country's natural riches especially the efforts to rehabilitate Boracay and restore its pristine environment.

"My duty to our nation is primary and is above and separate from my family's business interests," she said.

In March, the senator led the Senate investigation on the environmental woes facing Boracay.

Vista Land earlier denied that the circulating photos and videos showing supposed excavation work in a forested area of Boracay belong to the company's development site. 

"Significantly, the images appearing in the articles do not pertain to our project site. The area subject of our development is a developed resort with existing facilities," Vista Land's legal counsel Ma. Nalen Rosero said in a press statement.

She added that they have "slowed down" its development activities and "reduced" the number of equipment and workers in the area since February this year.

"We wish to assure the public that we are fully supportive of the government’s efforts to rehabilitate Boracay," she said.

The apparent construction work was reportedly documented on May 11, days after Boracay was closed to non-residents as a solution to environmental problems plaguing the island. One of the photos showed a mountain flattened to a leveled surface. —KG, GMA News