Knights of Rizal back calls vs condo

ROMERO

The head of an organization promoting the legacy of national hero Dr. Jose Rizal backed the clamor to suspend the construction of the Torre de Manila condominium until a compromise is reached to protect the view of the Rizal Monument.

“The Knights of Rizal support the very laudable action to stop the construction of a condominium near Rizal Park,” said businessman Reghis Romero II, supreme commander of the International Order of the Knights of Rizal.

“There are many places where high-rise buildings can be put up. But if built there, it will ruin the beauty of the scenery of our oldest and historical park. It’s sad to have the view ruined,” said Romero,

himself a major real estate developer who chairs RII Builders Inc.

The city council last week passed a resolution urging the city building official to suspend the building permit of DMCI Homes, developer of Torre de Manila on Taft Avenue, which was issued during the administration of then Mayor Alfredo Lim.

In an interview, former President and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada said he supported the resolution and raised the possibility of having the construction stopped pending discussions with the developer. DMCI had declined to comment.

An online campaign against the project was launched last year by tour guide and activist Carlos Celdran, who said the condo, if allowed to rise on Taft Avenue, would jut out of the sightline “right behind” the monument.

“Every time you take a photo or look at our national hero and think of him, you will also take in the sight of this‘ Terror of Manila’ above anything else,” Celdran said in a post on change.org urging Estrada to stop the project.

“As a developer, there are quite a number of solutions,” Romero told the Inquirer on Saturday. “Instead of a high-rise building, it can be a three-story commercial area with a façade depicting our historical landscape, similar to the buildings of the Department of Tourism and National Museum. It’s a matter of architectural design.”

Zoning regulation

“I think we should now implement in the Rizal Park area a zoning (regulation) for historical buildings,” he said.

Councilor DJ Bagatsing, author of the resolution and chair of the city council committee on tourism, said there will be a dialogue among stakeholders on Dec. 6.

Asked how the issue could be resolved, Bagatsing said it would depend on the outcome of the dialogue. “Personally, I think the developer can make some changes. They can lower the height, change the façade or plant tall trees.”

The monuments stands about a hundred meters east of the spot where the Filipino nationalist was executed by the Spanish colonial government on  Dec. 30, 1896. The bayside field was then known as Bagumbayan.

This coming Dec. 30, the Rizal Monument will mark the 100th year since its unveiling in 1913.

“This is where all roads start,’’ Romero said, referring to the monument’s designation as Kilometer Zero on the Philippine road map. “This is the monument of our national identity.”

The Knights of Rizal will kick off the month-long celebration of Rizal’s martyrdom with a “unity run” at the park today.

Through the activity, the organization would like to convey the Filipino people’s gratitude to the foreign donors who sent aid for the victims of Superthyphoon “Yolanda,” Romero said.

Participants were encouraged to wear white to signify their unity and purity of heart in expressing the country’s gratitude, he said.