Senator Alan Peter Cayetano on Friday stepped in as a mediator during a Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing seeking to resolve a dispute between the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and Blue Star Construction Development Corporation over a scrapped government housing development contract in the Masungi Georeserve in Rizal. In his opening statement, Cayetano set the tone to ease tensions by reading the preamble of the Constitution and a passage from the Bible. “In a time where there is so much waste and abuse of human rights, abuse of power, we are finally realizing that we cannot abuse nature. It is not sustainable. We are a country and people who are looking for good (environmental) models and examples,” Cayetano also told the DENR and the Blue star panel on April 11, 2025.
The senator also emphasized that the dispute presented an opportunity to address long-standing issues in the conservation area. “I felt this is an opportune time, but also a caution to all of us, including the Senate and the government, that people are watching. I [hope] we can conclude this in a very sober way and find real models. If this is really a good model and mali ang pagka-cancel, then it should be resolved. Kung mali ang model na ito at may pagkakamali na nakita lang in hindsight, it should be cancelled,” he said.
The dispute arose from the DENR’s termination of its 2022 Supplemental Joint Venture Agreement with Blue Star, citing the company’s alleged failure to build 5,000 housing units in Masungi. The Masungi Georeserve Foundation, affiliated with Blue Star since 2017, claimed that the government failed to clear illegal settlers as promised and accused the DENR of evading meaningful dialogue. Given that the problems surrounding Masungi Georeserve span nearly three decades and multiple administrations, Cayetano expressed hope for clarity. “We are all made in the image and nature of God so we should all be good stewards [of his creation]… Whatever we do here will be a lesson to the next generation so I hope that we can really come up with not only finding the solutions and identifying issues, coming up with the facts, but really coming up with a sustainable solution,” he said.
