Manila dads hear drive vs condo near Luneta

The campaign against a planned 45-story condominium which critics say will mar the view of the Rizal Park and the iconic monument of the country’s national hero has reached Manila City Hall.

Backed by about 30 supporters, cultural activist and tour guide Carlos Celdran attended a city council hearing on Friday armed with a petition calling on developer DMCI Holdings to “rethink” its plan to build the Torre de Manila condominium on Taft Avenue in Ermita, right across the park also known as Luneta.

The petition, launched on the website change.org, had gathered 3,460 signatures as of Friday afternoon, Celdran said. It mocked the condominium project by calling it “Terror de Manila.”

“‘Photobombing'” the visual frame of our national hero’s monument desecrates his memory. The view of his monument is a shrine, not an advertising panel for DMCI,” Celdran said in a statement.

The council held a public hearing to look not only into the Torre de Manila controversy but also into the planned construction of the 30-story Amaia Skies condo in a supposed “heritage zone” in the Sta. Ana district.

Though they were invited by the council, DMCI and Amaia representatives did not attend the hearing.

6th District Councilor Joy Dawis-Asuncion gave a presentation purportedly showing that the DMCI project site was within a “university cluster” or an area allotted for academic institutions.