DENR orders developer to vacate Masungi Georeserve property
IN NEED OF PROTECTION After all the awards it has earned for doing a good job, the foundation tasked by the government in
2017 with protecting the Masungi natural reserve in Rizal province is now fighting for its right to stay there. —INQUIRER file photo / NIÑO JESUS ORBETA
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) ordered the developer of Masungi Georeserve in Rizal to vacate the 300-hectare property.
The DENR said this was due to irregularities, but the Blue Star Construction Development Corporation, an affiliate of a foundation that manages the property, blamed the agency for project delays.
“After several investigations that started in 2014, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources today cancelled its 2002 Supplemental Agreement with government housing contractor Blue Star Construction Development Corporation (Blue Star) due to illegality, failure to go through a bidding process, and failure to execute,” the DENR said in a statement.
The DENR said it canceled the agreement due to the following: lack of the required Presidential Proclamation declaring the subject matter of the contract for housing purposes, lack of documents proving that the proposed construction went through regular procurement or bidding process; and failure to deliver the 5,000-unit Garden Cottages housing project within five years from signing on November 15, 2002.
DENR assistant secretary for legal affairs Norlito Eneran said that Blue Star initially signed a joint venture agreement with the DENR in 1997 for the survey, design construction, development and marketing of a project called “Garden Cottages” on a 130-hectare government property in Tanay, Rizal Province.
Despite this, Eneran said Blue Star was then still able to secure a supplemental agreement in 2002 that even increased their project area to an additional 300 hectares, “despite no substantial housing units built on the original 130 hectares awarded.”
Eneran further noted that since the original joint venture agreement for the housing project was never executed, and no bidding process occurred despite the five-year timeline, making the 2002 Supplemental Agreement “without basis.”
However, the Masungi Georeserve Foundation Inc. (MGFI) asserted that the project “was competitively bidded out by the DENR and won by Blue Star.”
“Let us be clear – it is the DENR who is at fault here. It has stubbornly refused to carry out its contractual obligation to clear the area of large-scale illegal occupants, liens, and encumbrances, causing delays to the project and significant injury to its private sector partner,” the MGFI said in a statement.
“This is not just an assault on Masungi Georeserve—it is an attack on every Filipino striving to protect our natural heritage in the face of worsening floods, landslides, and droughts that threaten our communities,” it added.
The MGFI said it has yet to receive the 15-day notice to vacate the area.
The Masungi Georeserve, is within the rainforests of Rizal, in the Sierra Madre Mountain Range.
In April 2024, two forest rangers were injured after they were attacked by alleged residents of Baras, Rizal.
READ: Malacañang: Probe Masungi resorts
The MGFI noted that this move “endangers the safety – not only of the public – but more recklessly, of the rangers and environment defenders who fight a risky battle to defend this threatened landscape.”
“It is apparent that this case is part of a larger, more insidious effort to weaken environmental protection, silence advocates, and clear the path for selfish commercial interests to exploit our natural resources. We will fight not just in defense of Masungi but in defense of environmental justice for all,” MGFI said.
“We call on the Filipino people to see through this deception and stand with us in protecting the last remaining forests of our generation. The future of our watersheds—and of generations to come—depends on it,” it continued.
