A court in Mandaue City ordered the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to tear down at least 21 structures, including parts of resorts, encroaching on easement zone in the popular beach of Sta. Fe town, Bantayan Island, where no structure is allowed. A group of resort owners, however, said no structure violated the easement rule and blamed erosion which it said made it appear that structures were within no-build areas. Branch 28 of the Mandaue Regional Trial Court (RTC) ruled that the structures violated Presidential Decree No. 1067, or the Water Code of the Philippines, which prohibited structures inside easement zones.

Atabayo, R. O. (2018, June 5). Env’t violators on Cebu beach need to go, court tells DENR. Philippine Daily Inquirer, p. A8.