THE ENVIRONMENTAL Management Bureau-Western Visayas (EMB-6) has issued 478 notices of violation to various Boracay establishments, which will be facing fines and possible criminal charges. EMB-6 legal officer Ramar Niel V. Pascua said some of the businesses incurred more than one violation such as failure to comply with the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, Republic Act 9003 or the Solid Waste Management Act of 2002, while others lacked environmental compliance certificates. “We have already endorsed 157 violations to the Pollution Adjudication Board (PAB), but eventually we will endorse all for computation of fines,” Mr. Pascua told the media on July 17. The PAB is in charge of determining if criminal cases are warranted. Mr. Pascua said PAB has already imposed penalties on 35 establishments ranging from P60,000 to P80,000. This week, the EMB, an attached agency of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, will endorse 23 more violations. “Usually the penalty is between P10,000 and P200,000 daily, depending on the discretion of the board,” he said. The EMB official said they do not expect the number of violations to increase as they “have already saturated the entire island.” — Louine Hope U. Conserva

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