Boracay official pays the price for trashing ‘a piece of paradise’

By Rjay Zuriaga Castor

MALAY, Aklan — The Supreme Court (SC) has affirmed the conviction of Hector Aguirre Casidsid, barangay captain of Yapak on Boracay Island, ordering him to pay a PHP 500,000 fine for operating an illegal open dumpsite in 2012.

In a 29-page decision promulgated Feb. 19, 2026, and released to the public on Tuesday, June 9, the high court upheld the rulings of lower courts penalizing the official for violating Republic Act No. 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.

The SC emphasized that the “right to a balanced and healthful ecology” is a concrete guarantee that imposes a duty on all to protect the environment.

“Particularly for Boracay, the Court must match the national government’s efforts at rehabilitation and severely castigate those particularly in the local government who fail to protect it, because in doing so, we all protect ‘a piece of paradise,'” the court stated.

The decision also directed that a portion of the fine be returned to Barangay Yapak to finance the village’s legitimate solid waste management programs, with the specific sharing scheme to be formulated by the National Solid Waste Management Commission.

Aside from the fine, the high court gave the local government of Malay a 90-day deadline to conduct a full cleanup and permanently close the illegal site.

The case originated from a 2012 complaint filed by Leo Neil Tirol, who discovered that a significant portion of his property in Sitio Ilig-Iligan, Barangay Yapak was being used as a dumpsite without his consent.

The property was covered by a Transfer Certificate of Title, which Tirol and his mother inherited from his father.

Tirol testified that the dumping made the land uninhabitable and caused its value to depreciate significantly.

He specifically cited the health risks and exposure to hazardous smoke from the burning of garbage.

Tirol initially filed a complaint with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on April 3, 2012, followed by a complaint-affidavit with the Office of the Ombudsman on May 21, 2012.

A subsequent ocular investigation by the DENR confirmed the presence of “heaps of mixed garbage,” including plastics, Styrofoam, and food waste, as well as a “deep excavation area” intended for biodegradable waste.

In its decision, the SC stressed that Casidsid offered conflicting defenses during trial.

Casidsid had admitted in earlier notarized documents that the Barangay Council used the property as a “temporary dumping site” because their Materials Recovery Facility was full, and residents were complaining about uncollected garbage.

During trial, however, he changed his version of events, claiming a private entity was responsible for the dumping and that the complainant’s land title was “spurious.”

The SC rejected Casidsid’s attempts to shift blame to a private entity or contest the property owner’s land title, ruling that the mere operation of an illegal dump is enough for conviction, regardless of who owns the land.

RA 9003 expressly prohibits open dumpsites and mandates local government units to establish segregation, collection, and disposal systems, including materials recovery facilities, making barangay officials directly accountable for waste management within their jurisdictions.

The ruling’s reference to rehabilitation recalls the national government’s unprecedented six-month closure of Boracay in 2018, when the island was shut to tourists to address sewage, waste, and environmental violations before its phased reopening under stricter regulations.