SC orders NCCA to explain why it stopped Torre de Manila construction

By: Tetch Torres-Tupas - 10 years ago

Torre de Manila. INQUIRER FILE photo/Edwin Bacasmas

MANILA, Philippines—The Supreme Court has ordered the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) to explain why it issued a cease and desist order (CDO) against the construction of Torre de Manila, a 49-story condominium unit, which, once completed, will mar the view of the Rizal Monument.

In its order, the high court gave NCCA 10 days from notice to submit its explanation.

“It [SC] directed the intervenor-respondent NCCA to explain its issuance of a Cease and Desist Order against the questioned structure within 10 days from notice of resolution,” high court’s spokesman Theodore Te.

Last month, the NCCA issued the cease and desist order requiring the DMCI to indefinitely stop construction of Torre de Manila.

In issuing the CDO, the NCCA cited how Torre de Manila affected the sight line of the Rizal monument.

“The construction of the condominium tower destroys or significantly alters the landscape of the monument and the park,” the NCCA said.

The NCCA, the National Museum of the Philippines (NMP) and the National Historical Commission (NHCP) have been included by the high court as “necessary parties” to the case.

The Knights of Rizal, along with Las Damas de Rizal Philippines Inc., have asked the high court to stop DMCI from proceeding with the project and order the “immediate and complete demolition” of Torre de Manila to preserve the visual corridors or vista of the Rizal Monument for posterity.

They added that the construction violated various laws, among them Republic Act No. 4846 or the Cultural Properties Preservation and Protection Act of 1966 and RA No. 10066 or the National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009.

The petitioners also said Torre de Manila would “devalue” the importance of the monument, which, according to the Knights, “[is] the identifying mark of our country’s irreplaceable greatness where all foreign dignitaries, state visitors and the like pay homage and [offer] respect thereof.”

The groups called on the high court to issue a “writ of pamana” (heritage) or a “writ of kasaysayan” (history) as a legal remedy for the protection of a citizen’s right to “all the country’s artistic and historic wealth [which] constitute [a] treasure of the nation,” as provided by Sections 14, 15 and 16, of Article XIV of the 1987 Constitution.