DENR cites violations in Monterrazas de Cebu project

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has flagged the high-end Monterrazas de Cebu project for multiple environmental violations, raising concerns about its role in the recent catastrophic flooding in Cebu.

- By CHRISTINE BOTON

DENR Region 7 assistant regional director Eddie Llamedo said a multi-agency inspection team found substantial noncompliance with key environmental requirements, including the clear-cutting of hundreds of unaccounted trees and violations of several conditions of the project’s amended environmental compliance certificate (ECC).

“We discovered that of the 745 trees listed in the 2022 inventory, only 11 remained,” Llamedo said on Thursday. “This constitutes a clear violation of Section 77 of the Forestry Code, and we are now building a case against the developer.”

The 200-hectare Monterrazas de Cebu development, promoted as a “Banaue rice terraces-inspired” residential complex, has drawn sustained criticism since 2023 for environmental risks tied to its slope-altering construction, with residents and observers linking the project's terrain modifications to worsening runoff and flooding during Typhoon Tino, which left 108 dead in Cebu and displaced thousands of others.