Hospital project not in forested area, says UP official

MANILA, Philippines — An official of the University of the Philippines (UP) said the project to build a public hospital, referral facility and medical school on UP’s Diliman campus in Quezon City will not be carried out in the protected forest area of the UP Arboretum but in an area classified as “open parks and open spaces.”

This means not a single tree will be felled to make way for the construction, UP Vice President for public affairs Elena Pernia told the Inquirer on Saturday.

Pernia’s clarification followed the statements made by members of UP’s Board of Regents (BOR) who dissented from the majority vote to reclassify certain portions of the arboretum as an academic support zone.

In a statement on Friday, the three dissenting regents—Isaac Punzalan (student regent), Ramon Guillermo (faculty) and Mylah Pedrano (staff)—said the reclassification “reduces the protected area of the Arboretum to half its current size” of 18.25 hectares.

“Instead of mobilizing UP experts and putting in place programs for much-needed forest protection and rehabilitation as well as the replanting of the denuded areas, the BOR has voted in favor of deforestation,” they said. “Instead of ensuring a humane relocation and finding a long-term housing solution for the families living in the area, the BOR simply washes its hands of the matter. Now that forest will be replaced by concrete monstrosities, parking lots and fences.”

They also said the 4.2 ha reserved for the UP-Philippine General Hospital (PGH) project will likely be used for “UP Technohub”-style commercial developments “to ensure adequate returns on investment for this public-private partnership project.”

‘OPEN SPACE’ A map of the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital project approved by the university’s board of regents and the site where the hospital will be built in the UP Arboretum. —UP OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT FOR DEVELOPMENT/RADEN AGUSTIN, UP MEDIA AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE

Open area

Pernia confirmed that 9.6 ha, or about half of the arboretum’s area, were reclassified as an academic support zone.

But she said “[t]he hospital would be located not in the academic area, but in the largely open parks and major open spaces, leaving most of the forested area as forested area.”

“The 9.58 ha comprises both open parks and spaces, and protected forested areas, but the hospital will be built in the open area,” she said, adding:

“Part of the area that will be reclassified in the protected area, however—that is not where the hospital will be built on. The part that will be built upon by the UP-PGH [project] will be in the upper portion which is [around] 4.2 ha, and it is not in the protected forest area. It is really cleared.”

“There will be no change in the protected area, which is the arboretum,’’ she stressed. “This will remain a protected forest area.”

“We are sure no mature tree will be chopped off in the construction of the hospital. We are committed to retain this as a forest reserve,” Pernia said.

“We are the University of the Philippines. We protect biodiversity. Hindi ’yan papabayaan [It won’t be taken for granted]. Measures will be taken to assure biodiversity in the area is conserved and improved.”

‘Not anytime soon’

Regarding the informal settlers, she said it is this “human encroachment into the forested area [that] is impacting biodiversity.’’

They had already been surveyed “and understand that they are not authorized to stay there,’’ Pernia said. “They are willing to be moved out so long as there is a relocation [site] for them.”

The state university is already coordinating with the National Housing Authority on the matter, she said, citing the commitment made by UP President Danilo Concepcion “not to evict until there is relocation.”

Asked about the timetable for the project, Pernia said “the funding source is also not yet settled—whether it is a public-private partnership, or fully government-funded. We are still in the early stages.”

As part of the process, the project will still undergo scrutiny from the National Economic Development Authority, she said.