When Asking A Question Provoke More Follow Up Questions

The Chocolate Hills Resort saga is a tempest in a teacup.  It created a lot of uproar over a matter of great importance. While it is still garden-fresh ... let me take this opportunity to refresh our memory  ... that in 2012 we had the same shade of controversy when Torre de Manila ... due to its proximity to the Rizal monument was considered a disgrace to the memory of our national hero Jose Rizal ... making it a "photobomber" of the sort. 

Several concerned citizens made a Herculean task of halting the construction.  It made a lot of outrage then ... haven't we learned our lesson ...  and we want to revisit another Deja vu story (ala Torre de Manila) by violating and desecrating what was considered the eight wonders of the world?

Now the resort in Chocolate Hills is getting the ire of the netizens and has angered a lot of Filipinos ... more questions arise.  For one ... does the Bohol government (especially the one who signed the permit) have a different interpretation of the laws governing Chocolate Hills as a protected geological monument and a protected landscape?

The construction started in 2018 ... with all the deluge of tourists pouring into Bohol ... not a single whistleblower had sounded any dissent or calls for protest? If it is a protected monument ... why has PAMB (Protected Area Management Board) gave the owners the go-signal to proceed with construction and later the operation of the resort? Why were the owners not reprimanded from the get-go ... if they were violating any laws ... and why did they wait for the resort to finish until they got feelers something is wrong somewhere?

 

And was it true ... that everybody was in limbo including the DENR hierarchy who seemed surprised when the photo of the resort was uploaded on Facebook? Will this be another Clash of the Titans - DENR vs the local DILG? Was outing the scoop of the month accidental ... and why only now? And how did the owner manage to keep the construction in secrecy when any enterprising Marites can always cash in and get media mileage just by opening the Pandora Box and making an expose'?

Unexpected questions can really put the principal characters on the spot ... or they will be taken by surprise ... but at the end of the day ... it boils down to one thing ... the Filipinos need transparency.