What Masungi Has to Say About DENR's Order to Vacate the Property
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has ended its contract with Blue Star Construction and Development Corp. (BSDC), asking them to vacate the 300-hectare Masungi Georeserve within 15 days. DENR is responsible for the conservation of the Philippines' environment and natural resources, while BSDC is the parent company of Masungi Georeserve Foundation Inc. (MGFI), which is behind the conservation of Masungi Georeserve in the southern Sierra Madre range in Baras, Rizal. MGFI is a non-stock, non-profit foundation duly registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
"DENR has chosen to go after those protecting our forests instead of those destroying them. While it continues to approve destructive quarries, private resorts, and industrial projects that irreparably harm our watersheds, it is using taxpayer money to target Masungi Georeserve—a globally recognized conservation initiative—and its affiliated company Blue Star, which started the conservation and protection efforts in the area," Masungi Georeserve said in a statement.
The Masungi Georeserve, named for its spiked limestone landscape, is home to over 400 species of flora and fauna, including the Luzon tarictic hornbill and the critically endangered Bagawak-Morado tree. It is home to 97 species of birds, the highest number of snails recorded in the Philippines, and 30 species of bats, including the first Flying Foxes in Rizal.
The reserve is also a crucial part of the Upper Marikina River Basin Protected Landscape, a designated area that plays a vital role in regulating water flow to Manila. As a geotourism destination, it offers visitors a chance to reconnect with nature through its winding trails and rustic rock gardens.
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How Masungi Georeserve Came to Be
Back in the '90s, the foothills of Sierra Madre in Rizal were under threat by land-grabbing activities, large-scale quarrying, and illegal logging. The site where Masungi Georeserve is now centers on the geological formations of Masungi Rock, a karst terrain formed over 60 million years ago and believed to be the largest exposed spine of limestone in the Philippines.
In 1997, through public bidding, Blue Star and the DENR (under Secretary Victor Ramos) entered a joint venture agreement to create a sustainable housing project with 70% green spaces and 30% development. (Note that traditional developments allot 70% of land for development and 30% for green spaces.) The awarded lot is at 130 hectares, with a requirement of 5,000 housing units for government employees.
In accordance with this agreement with the environment agency, Blue Star implemented a master plan that will result in "the optimum use of the land with minimum disruption of the existing ecosystem and maximum preservation of the environment and enhancement of the Land’s natural attractions."
In 2002, under the administration of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, DENR (under Secretary Heherson Alvarez) and Blue Star amended their 1996 contract and came up with the Supplemental Joint Venture Agreement, which added an additional 300 hectares to Blue Star's housing project for 5,000 additional units. This SJVA resulted in the construction of the Discovery Trail, which allows guests to go through the conservation area and come close to the karst terrain. Trekking the Discovery Trail lasts from three to four hours while a park ranger provides a deeper understanding of the area.
In 2011, Tanay Mayor Lito Tanjuatco acknowledged Blue Star's role in protecting Masungi Rock and said that the company "probably has exerted the greatest effort and invested the most heavily, so that Masungi Rock may be protected from opportunistic individuals who have complete disregard for its preservation."
Former DENR Secretary Gina Lopez, in August 2016, visited the Masungi Georeserve Discovery Trail and acknowledged that it could be a role model in conserving natural resources and saving denuded mountains.
In 2017, DENR (under Lopez) and MGFI signed a memorandum of agreement for the Masungi Georeserve Project, this time to restore and rewild 2,700 hectares of land in Rizal. As of 2023, the MGP has physically recovered 2,000 hectares, including four of the remaining Benguet Pine groves from the 1970s. It has established twelve (12) Monitoring Stations, maintained fifteen (15) kilometers of monitoring trails, planted and nurtured about a hundred thousand (100,000) native forest trees with the help of more than 200 partners, and engaged more than 100 locals as Masungi park rangers including former illegal loggers, women, youth, and indigenous people.
Blue Star and DENR's 2002 Contract
"Dito po sa napirmahang letter of cancelation ng ating department, sinasabi natin na isa sa mga kontrata rito, which is the 2002 Supplemental Agreement, is canceled, and we are demanding the Blue Star to vacate the area," said Norlito Eneran, DENR Assistant Secretary for Legal Affairs and Enforcement, on Friday, March 7.
Blue Star's violations, according to the DENR, included the imposition of fees, construction of park facilities without permits, fencing of a portion of government property, "very restrictive access" to DENR officials, and non-completion of the housing projects.
"Let us be clear – it is the DENR who is at fault here," Masungi added in their statement. "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."
They further clarified that a Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) is "not a simple contractual arrangement in which an agency hires a company to construct a project in exchange for payment. Instead, it is a collaborative partnership where both parties—the financier and developer (Blue Star) and the landowner (DENR)—share responsibilities, obligations, and equity in the project. As outlined in the contract, disputes should be resolved through good-faith dialogue between both parties.
However, the DENR has opted to evade meaningful discussions. We welcome the opportunity to defend this agreement while also shedding light on the DENR’s decades-long negligence in managing these contracts."
Masungi said that have yet to receive the said notice to vacate. "Rest assured, we have anticipated this action by the DENR Secretary Ma. Antonia “Toni” Yulo-Loyzaga. We are confident of the legal remedies available to us to stay the order, continue our work, and save Masungi," they added.
