Paradise Island Resort's jetty (photo mine)
There’s trouble in Paradise — and in Bluejaz — as the two popular resorts at the Island Garden City of Samal across the Gulf from Davao City (where I live) are locked in a turf war that’s already resulted in threats being made and complaints being filed before the police. Interestingly, the turf in question is not even technically land: it is the foreshore area in front of the two adjacent resorts, and by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)’s definition, foreshore “refers to that part of the shore which is alternately covered and uncovered by the ebb and flow of the tide.” In other words, the beach.
According to a Mindanao Daily Mirror story written by Maya Padillo which appeared on November 11, the problem began on November 9 when Bluejaz resort manager Noel Martin, on instruction of owner Jasmine Middleton, parked two of their boats at the property of Paradise Island Resort owned by Narciso Rodriguez. He said this was because Paradise had been parking its boats on their side of the beach for some time now. “We wanted them to feel what we feel when they park their boats on our property,” Martin was quoted as saying.
Rodriguez, upon his own admission, responded by threatening to shoot Martin and the two boat drivers for allegedly trespassing on his property. “They were inside the property of Paradise. They parked their boats in the spot where artificial corals were planted. Paradise did nothing to provoke them. If I have to protect my business, I have to do everything,” he told the Mirror. He said the matter is being investigated by the police.
The bone of contention between the two is the foreshore lease of Rodriguez’s friend Pedro Durano which covers almost half of the beach front at the right side of Bluejaz. Martin said they had asked Rodriguez not to park his boats at their side, but the latter countered that he had been doing so for many years as Durano’s friend. Besides, he said, “the seawater is not their property.” He did not explain, however, why he became angry when the same thing was done to him.
Two girls freely enjoy the waves in Dahican, Mati, Davao Oriental. (Photo mine)
Who has the right to the area? Can Bluejaz prevent Paradise from parking on its beach area, and vice versa? This is really a test case on a matter that many Samal and Davao residents have been complaining about for many years. Resort owners have been fencing off their beach fronts like they were part of their property, but according to the handbook “Managing the Philippine Foreshore: A Guide for Local Governments” produced by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), everyone has the right to have access to the shore.
“Yet, in many areas, such access is often denied the public because of permanent structures (either private, such as walls or fences constructed by owners of adjacent lands, or public, such as wharves, seawall, causeways),” the handbook says. It also cites Article 51 of Presidential Decree (PD) No. 1067, otherwise known as The Water Code of the Philippines, which states that the banks or rivers and streams and the shores of the seas and lakes “are subject to the easement of public use. No person shall be allowed to stay in this zone longer than what is necessary for recreation, navigation, frottage, fishing or salvage or to build structures of any kind.”
In other words, while Middleton and Rodriguez own the property in front of the beach, they don’t actually own the beach and may not prevent anyone from entering and using it. People can swim there, fish, dive, and, yes, park their boats in its waters. There is really no basis for the two owners to quarrel: the beach and the water are for everyone to enjoy and utilize reasonably, and as long as no one abuses these resources, then we’re all fine. It is as Rodriguez said, but his statement must be tweaked thusly: “The seawater is not anyone’s property.”
The problem is abuse, and to address this the Foreshore Lease Contract (FLC) that must be applied for imposes the following requirements on the tenure holder: pay rent; construct improvements appropriate only to the FLC’s purpose; use the land only in accordance with the purpose specified in the FLC; shall not sublet the area covered by the FLC; guarantee the general public free access to the beach and nearby coastal water.
And that’s the bottom line: free access. The public ought to take advantage of the rift between Paradise and Bluejaz to press the two resorts — as well as the dozens of others in Samal and in the Davao area — to open up the beaches and let the general public use them freely. No one should be paying entrance fees to places that belong to the people in the first place.
Random Posts:
really good article.im from davao but i now reside heer in the uk.i cannot believe these people are fighting about something which they don’t even own.and the problem with these laws are nobody implements it not even our own government.i totaly agree that the beaches are public property.
davao and samal should take the example of places like boracay and bohol where the resorts don’t encroach on the beach areas.
Good article kuya Jon. i never thought about it that way, but i remember the rules in Florida were exactly the same, the difference being that they were well-enforced. you could walk, play, and swim in front of any resort you wanted (but leave their lounge chairs alone unless you’re staying there). Siargao was the same, i think. it would be difficult for Davao to transition, though. those beaches wouldn’t be such nice sandy beaches without the investment of the resorts that developed them.