The Department of Environment and Natural Resources–Environmental Management Bureau in Negros Island Region (DENR-EMB NIR) has rejected the request of Hacienda Asia Plantations, Inc. (HAPI) to lift the cease-and-desist order (CDO) on its proposed five-hectare oil palm nursery in Candoni, Negros Occidental.
Documents sent by the Negrosanon Initiative for Climate and the Environment showed that in separate letters dated August 15 and 18, 2025, OIC-Regional Director For. Vicente S. Losbañes reminded HAPI that its application for an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) remains under initial evaluation.
“The mere filing of an application does not grant permission to proceed with project implementation, regardless of the proposed area being limited to five hectares,” Losbañes stressed.
He further emphasized that the CDO “remains in full effect until it is revoked or lifted, and the required ECC has been duly secured.”
In an interview, Losbañes said “HAPI failed to comply with the conditions set by the CDO such as the installation of a siltation pond which we agreed upon during the technical conference we set and their failure as well to submit the proposed amended Comprehensive Development and Management that DENR needs to review and approve.”
Losbañes also said that they asked HAPI to receive the denial letter and during our meeting, “they told me that the siltation pond is inapplicable. So I asked them what are the other options if a siltation pond is not applicable, the replied they have no plans yet.”
The bureau directed HAPI to suspend all further activities until full compliance with environmental requirements has been met. Any premature activity, it warned, would constitute a regulatory violation and be subject to sanctions.
The latest DENR directive follows a series of notices of violation and cease-and-desist orders previously issued against HAPI for operating its oil palm plantation in Candoni without the necessary ECC.
The recent developments were presented by ARD Joan Nathaniel Gerangaya during the “PROMISES VS. REALITY: A Public Forum on the Social and Environmental Impacts of Palm Oil Plantation in Candoni, Negros Occidental” organized by the Negrosanon Initiative for Climate and the Environment, Inc. (NICE) and the Caritas Bacolod Social Action Foundation, Inc.