Despite this, the owner of Captain’s Peak Garden and Resort managed to secure a building permit and later, a permit to operate, from the Sagbayan municipality.

Loyzaga stated during a virtual press briefing, "We discovered that the building permit was issued in 2020, and certainly, there was no ECC at that point, and subsequently in 2022. So, their construction continued because they had a building permit from the local government even without an ECC."

"Secondly, they were also granted a business permit, so we need to work closely with the local government units because whoever is granted a business permit, it should be confirmed that they have the proper permissions, especially in a protected area," she added.

DENR Undersecretary for Field Operations and Environment Juan Miguel Cuna explained that the resort owner obtained a resolution from the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) endorsing the project in 2020. However, one of the specific conditions given by PAMB was to obtain an ECC before any activity, including construction.

In 2022, the resort owner sought PAMB's endorsement again because they had relocated their proposed project site. They received PAMB's endorsement with the condition to obtain an ECC before commencing any activity.

"So clearly they were well aware of the requirement to get an ECC," Cuna said.

In September 2023, the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO) discovered the construction without an ECC and issued a notice of violation, along with a request to halt operations.

Cuna stated that the owner then applied for an ECC but was unable to submit the complete document.

"They continued to operate and even wrote to the PENRO requesting the lifting of the order, claiming they had applied for an ECC, which the PENRO denied because the ECC had not been issued yet," Cuna said.

In January of this year, the EMB Region 7 issued a notice of violation for the absence of an ECC.