The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on Saturday, April 20, bared that the Blue Star Construction and Development Corporation (BSCDC), the firm behind the resort development in the environmentally protected Upper Marikina River Basin in Rizal, is demanding over P1 billion from the government, citing alleged failures to fulfill land commitments within state-owned territories.
In a recent statement of account sent by BSCDC to the DENR, dated April 11, the company presented a detailed account of expenses attributed to the government's purported inability to deliver a 10-hectare land parcel designated for the National Bilibid Prisons, as mandated by Presidential Proclamation 1158 signed on September 8, 2006.
The billing encompasses various costs, including legal fees, security expenses, and damages resulting from delayed land delivery. It even references monthly rental payments of P100,000 to a "professional squatter," with expenses reportedly incurred since June 2018.
However, the DENR Investigation Committee, formed in 2019 to scrutinize the contracts in question, has declared the billings by Blue Star as “without legal basis.”
“The contracts entered into by BSCDC (Blue Star) had legal infirmities ranging from unlawful excise of land for housing purposes in a National Park to award of contracts without bidding,” the Investigation Committee stated.
Per the disclosures of Blue Star with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), among the key officers and stockholders of Blue Star are Ben Dumaliang, Ann Adeline Dumaliang, and Billy Crystal Dumaliang.
Among the key figures associated with Blue Star, as disclosed in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, are Ben Dumaliang, Ann Adeline Dumaliang, and Billy Crystal Dumaliang.
The DENR said one of the controversial contracts involving Dumaliang with the DENR is a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) signed with the late Environment Secretary Gina Lopez on April 25, 2017.
“The area covers 2,700 hectares in the city of Antipolo and the towns of Baras, Tanay, Rodriguez, and San Mateo, all in Rizal. The Memorandum of Agreement gave the MGF a “perpetual land trust” over the area which is now a resort referred to as Masungi Georeserve. The key officers and trustees of MGF are also Ben Dumaliang, Ann Adeline Dumaliang, and Billie Dumaliang,” the agency said.
The environment department noted that the resort, which charges entrance fees ranging from P1,500 to P1,800 per person and offers accommodations starting at P5,000 per night, has been the subject of scrutiny. It hosts various events and activities, including weddings and corporate gatherings, with rates reaching up to P120,000. Additionally, it operates a restaurant and offers tourists access to caves, stone formations, rope bridges, and elevated platforms providing panoramic views of the Sierra Madre mountain range.
But the DENR noted that the agreement forged with Lopez was declared void ab initio (from the start) by the Department of Justice (DOJ) in a Position Paper addressed to the House Committee on Natural Resources. The Department of Justice asserted that the MOA violated constitutional provisions, it stressed.
As such, the DENR investigative team identified several violations by the foundation, including the absence of clearances from the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB), lack of consent from ancestral domain owners and the National Commission for Indigenous People (NCIP), absence of an Environmental Clearance Certificate (ECC), and lack of accreditation from the Department of Tourism.
“Masungi Georeserve resort is situated within the Upper Marikina River Basin Watershed, a vast area covering 27,980 hectares in Rizal province, initially declared by executive order in 1904. It has been subject to various presidential proclamations, republic acts, and administrative orders,” the environment department stated.
“In 1997, Blue Star entered into a joint venture agreement (JVA) with the DENR for the development and operation of Garden Cottages. Subsequent agreements in 2002 and 2008 expanded the scope of the project, with the intention to offset housing developments in Dasmarinas City, Cavite, against the agreed Garden Cottages in Rizal Province.”