* The Carmen Municipal Council asked Mayor Carlo Villamor to suspend Municipal Ordinance 074, series of 2024, citing a lack of consultation and haphazard roadside collection.
* Vice Mayor Martin Gerard Villamor and councilors requested a full exemption for Carmen residents from paying environmental fees across local adventure parks, resorts, and transit points.
* The local government began collecting the updated environmental fees on Sept. 29, 2026, without posting a copy of the ordinance on its official public information Facebook page.
CARMEN Municipal Council has asked Mayor Carlo Villamor to suspend the implementation of the town’s environmental fee ordinance while it reviews the measure and considers exempting residents from the charges.
In a letter dated Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026, Vice Mayor Martin Gerard Villamor and members of the Municipal Council asked for the immediate suspension of Municipal Ordinance 074, series of 2024. They cited concerns over the lack of consultation with tourism stakeholders, insufficient public notice and what they described as haphazard roadside collection.
“We are writing to respectfully request a full exemption for all Carmenanons from paying environmental fees across all local adventure parks, resorts, and transit points, including the Carmen Pier for those traveling to Ormoc,” Vice Mayor Villamor said in a Facebook post on Saturday, Oct. 3, sharing a portion of the official letter.
Implementation concerns
The request comes after the local government began collecting the updated environmental fees on Tuesday, Sept. 29. However, the Municipal Government did not post a copy of the ordinance on its official public information Facebook page to notify residents.
The councilors said the suspension would give the Municipal Council time to review the ordinance and amend provisions they consider necessary. While they support the administration’s revenue-generating initiatives under Section 1 of Ordinance 074, the councilors raised concerns about the rollout process and the manner in which collections were being conducted along roadsides.
Residents should be given enough time and proper notice to understand the guidelines governing the environmental fee before its execution, the councilors said. To aid in their review, the Office of the Vice Mayor will ask the municipal treasurer to submit a report on environmental fee collections in other local government units.
Pending approval
The councilors said the comparative data would help the Municipal Council in its deliberations on the proposed amendments. The Oct. 1 letter was signed by Vice Mayor Villamor and several members of the Municipal Council, though Al Silvestre Damiles and Antonio Awing did not sign the document because they were absent during the informal meeting held in Panglao, Bohol. The council’s request now awaits action from the municipal administration. / CDF