Blue Star Construction and Development Corporation (BSCDC), the company behind the Masungi Georeserve resort in Rizal Province, is billing the government over one billion pesos for alleged failure to deliver lands in the government’s territory. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has been cited for unrealized delivery of a 10-hectare parcel of land.
The DENR Investigation Committee has stated that the billings by Blue Star are without legal basis, citing legal infirmities in the contracts. The key officers and stockholders of Blue Star, Ben Dumaliang, Ann Adeline Dumaliang, and Billy Crystal Dumaliang, are also involved in a series of questionable contracts with the DENR.
The Masungi Georeserve resort, part of the Upper Marikina River Basin Watershed, collects entrance fees from tourists and offers accommodations. However, the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the late Environment Secretary Gina Lopez was deemed void ab initio (from the start) by the Department of Justice.
The DENR investigative team also cited several violations by the foundation, including lack of clearances from the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB), lack of consent from the ancestral domain owners and the National Commission for Indigenous People (NCIP), lack of an Environmental Clearance Certificate (ECC), and lack of accreditation from the Department of Tourism.