By Jennifer P. Rendon

Four persons, including a German national, were arrested for allegedly occupying or building structures in protected forest lands in Boracay Island.

Members of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) nabbed the subjects afternoon of September 21, 2021.

Arrested were Gerald Alapag and Dhelmar Evangelio, both 29 years old and residents of Barangay Yapak, Boracay Island, Malay; and Mark Bernard Alcantara, 42 and German national Ludwig August Borchers, 69, both residents of Barangay Balabag, Boracay.

According to Rizaldy Rivera, NBI Special Investigator for Environment Crime Division, the four were charged for violating provisions of Presidential Decree 705 or the “Revised Forestry Code of the Philippines.”

The law states that forest land “includes the public forest, the permanent forest or forest reserves, and forest reservations.

A P36,000 bail might be set for each person for their temporary liberty.

Some of them allegedly showed building permits.

But Rivera stressed that they will not recognize building permits or even tax declaration. They also failed to present legitimate land titles.

Last year, the NBI also arrested several owners and caretakers, some of whom foreigners, for the same violation.

Some residents had to vacate their properties also after the Department of Environment and Natural Resources noted that they were occupying areas categorized as forest lands.