A Puerto Princesa City-based non-government organization asked the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to investigate the alleged use and occupation of untitled lands in areas under the Malampaya Sound Protected Landscape and Seascape by certain individuals and groups, including billionaire Beatriz Zobel de Ayala. “We respectfully request the DENR to look into reclamation activities and tourism-related construction activities in El Nido and Coron, Palawan which apparently have not undergone the appropriate consultations, environmental impact assessments/studies and have led, among others, the destruction of mangrove areas [particularly in El Nido],” Environmental Legal Assistance Center Inc. executive director Grizela Mayo-Anda said in a letter to DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu on June 5. Malampaya Sound Protected Landscape and Seascape spans 200,115 hectares of both aquatic and terrestrial environment with diverse ecosystems in Palawan. It was declared a marine protected area in 2000.

DENR asked to probe billionaire’s Palawan structures. (2020, June 15). Manila Standard, p. B4.