Bacong Best Posts in Thread: When do they tear down all illegal structures here?

Demolition of illegal structures at Boracay resort starts
the Duterte government is starting to implement the existing law and tears down all illegal buildings / structures in the beach areas at Boracay, Panglao in Bohol and also at Palawan - when do they start here in this area? specially in Bacong, so many seawalls that make it impossible to have a nice beach walk, so many illegal houses in the environmental protection zone directly at the beach - not to mention waste water management... it is simply annoying when the foreign expat tries to fulfill all the laws in respect to the guest country and so many people do what they want without any consequences. any opinions? is this a lawless island?

 

Here is an example of what a sea wall does. It changes the wave action and in this case eroded the beach. The beach on the right is at the original level when the wall was built last year. There is now about 5 1/2 feet difference in height. When the tide is in the water is about 5 feet deep at the wall and there is no beach. You have to walk along the top of the wall to go past. Most people that build a wall just pick a spot at low tide and put up a wall. To make a sea wall last it has to be built differently and needs "rip rap", large piles of rocks, dropped at the base to keep the sea from eroding it. There is another wall further to the right that has been there longer and the sea has eroded under and behind it and it has fallen. The wall on the left will suffer the same fate. The sea has already washed the sand out down to the bottom of the wall and in spots you can see under it. My understanding is that the government's view is that this is a public asset, the beach, that has been ruined by an illegal structure. Of course we all know that in the Philippines "illegal" is a sick bird.

 

I think what the OP was talking about was the fact that there are so many illegal structures on the beach here by the people that can afford to build them. I am not a lawyer but I have looked at a lot of beach front property and talked to many realtors, lawyers and a resort owner about the laws regarding building a house and seawalls here.The "foreshore", the beach, belongs to the public and access cannot be blocked nor can the beach be built upon. This means that you must allow a right of way access to the beach even across your property, although no one does. Depending on which law you read, the setback for buildings is from 6 meters to 25 meters from the beach. The setback also varies with the height of the structure built. Technically privately built seawalls are not legal although everyone builds one. I know an American that owns a resort on Alona Beach in Panglao. He was complaining because he can only build to 2 stories at his distance from the beach. He says in any case the maximum there is 3 stories but the big resorts come in and build 5 stories right on the beach. Normal procedure here to do whatever you like regardless of legality, as we all know. There is a thread on this site with part of the law quoted and much detail. If you want to read it yourself the thread is:
beach front property, shoreline - law problems?

There are many more laws that apply than what are quoted in that thread and some conflict with each other. The biggest problem is that the responsibility for enforcement is not clear as to what agency it should be. Of course we all know that the law is pretty much ignored here and not usually enforced.

 

Yeah, exactly to those, because in their ignorance and while feeling oh-so-special they don't even notice that they might doing something wrong. Whole Lapu Lapu Island is really bad as well - you can drive for kilometers and only have walls right (sea-side) and poor people housings left, resort here, resort there, you're surrounded by water but don't have a chance to even see it without paying a hefty price.

 

Let's change the words "cannot" and "can" to "shouldn't" and "should". You don't have to change my mind, I don't want anyone to tear anything down and I really don't care what people build on the beach. I live on the property that has the seawall that I posted the picture of. I was only making comment from the best knowledge that I had in answer to the OP's question about when will they tear down the illegal structures, because it was my understanding that most were illegal. As you and I both know, this is the Philippines and the law or rules have little to do with the reality. I live next to a property that, I think, gerry_bc built a few years ago. Whether I have him pegged right or not, read his comments on the thread beach front property, shoreline - law problems? He has the same opinion about the structures. As I originally stated, in the PH illegal is a sick bird. What is actually happening is what anyone or anybody has the nerve and money to do. What is actually happening has little to do with what is legal, right or even advisable. How many people do you suppose that block the shoreline or build on the "no build" areas, actually have leases that allow them to do so? I would guess not many. I don't listen to lawyers and real estate professionals to tell me what is actually happening either, I can see that for myself. However, it is prudent to ask a lawyer, if he is competent, what is legal or not. Whether the legality matters is a different subject and I'm sure some examples would prove that it does not make much difference here.

 

Regardless of what the law says and whether there are conflicting laws or not - intentionally blocking the beach by building walls or fences just because you can is a sign of ignorance and sociopathic tendencies. The sea is a public good and walking along the beach should definitely be possible anywhere there is one.

Good example for how it can be done in a responsible way is the El Dorado in Dauin - they built a wall but clearly labelled the path on top of it "public walkway". Way to go imho.

 

Except for foreigners. When they do something wrong, the jail or the BI is waiting.

 

Went back there recently to eat and swim - car park was roped off for special visitors only (including one space for a fire engine and one for an ambulance) and day visitors are no longer allowed to use the swimming pool. Has gone from a 9/10 to a 1/10.

 

The whole country is lawless!