THE blame game continued over the Torre De Manila even during the House of Representatives probe on the controversial building that destroyed the line of sight of the Rizal Monument.
In the hearing of the Metro Manila Development committee on Wednesday, former mayor Alfredo Lim pointed at the city council of incumbent Manila mayor Joseph Estrada for causing the construction of the 49-story building behind the Rizal statue.
Lim said during his administration, only the foundations of the building were constructed.
But during Estrada’s term, the condominium building shot up to at least 40 floors which caused the photobombing of the Rizal Monument, Lim said.
Estrada snubbed Wednesday’s hearing. His representative Vice Mayor Isko Moreno also failed to attend because of a prior appointment. Moreno sent councilors Joel Chua and Marlon Lacson.
Lim said Estrada’s finger pointing at him only serves to “malign my character and person.”
Estrada had blamed Lim for granting DMCI the permit and lifting the height limit of buildings during his term, allowing DMCI to push through with the 49-storey building that was originally planned at only 19 floors.
Lim also vetoed a city ordinance that would have limited the height of the condominium. Ordinance 8310 authored by Councilor DJ Bagatsing prohibits structures that mar the line of sight or backdrops of any historical or cultural site or monument, or “diminish [their] dominance and dignity or aesthetically desecrate [their] frontal or natural perspective.”
Under Estrada’s term, meanwhile, the Manila city council issued a January 2014 resolution ratifying the exemption granted by the Manila Zoning Board of Adjustments and Appeal to DMCI for the Torre de Manila project. Aside from lifting the height limit on the proposed condominium, it also affirmed the validity of the permits given to DMCI during Lim’s administration.
During the hearing, Lim said he vetoed the said Ordinance 8310 because it requires contractors to seek the clearance from the city council for vertical construction of buildings that impair the line of sight of national monuments.
“The main reason I vetoed this ordinance is because the city council should perform legislative functions and not executive,” Lim said.
“Bakit kailangan magmano sa kanila ang developer bago magtayo? Ano ang motibo? The ordinance violated the principle of separation of powers because the executive should give the permit and not the council,” Lim said.
Estrada’s councilor Marlon Lacson said the ordinance had been in existence before his term.
Lacson said what Lim did is to veto with the ordinance the provision that would have limited the height of Torre De Manila.
Lacson said the city council noted the violation of DMCI in floor area ratio before the latter applied for exemption.
For his part, Manila Representative Amado Bagatsing said that the city council’s executive functions clearly usurped powers of the office of the Mayor.
“It appears that the city council has usurped the powers of the Mayor,” Bagatsing said.
Lim added that under his term, he allowed the construction of Torre De Manila upon the go signal of National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) chair Maria Sereno Diokno.
For his part, Estrada’s lawyer Albert Flaminiano said he could not answer Lim’s allegations against former President Estrada.
Flaminiano said he could only lay down the timeline of the construction.
He said no law prohibits the construction of a building that mars the line of sight of a national monument as long as it complies with the Building Code.
The lawyer added that NHCP Chair Diokno in a letter to the mayor also posed no objections to Torre De Manila’s construction because it had no jurisdiction on areas outside Rizal Park.
Diokno also supposedly told the local government that the Torre De Manila would not obstruct the view of Rizal Park because it is constructed at the rear, Flaminiano said.
“No specific law regarding the obstruction of view for photographic opportunities have been violated,” Flaminiano said, instead pointing at Lim’s administration for issuing the zoning and building permit to DMCI despite the building exceeding the allowed floor area requirement.
Flaminiano said under the Estrada administration, DMCI applied and was granted exemption to the floor area requirement and was given a zoning permit by the Manila Zoning Board of Adjustment and Appeals.
For his part, former Manila mayor and Buhay Hayaang Yumabong Representative Lito Atienza countered Flaminiano’s claims, saying that there are ordinances in the Manila city hall that prohibit the construction of buildings behind the Manila city hall tower which would obstruct its line of sight.
“If you take a look at the city hall wala kang makikitang building sa likod… I would like to disagree with the statement of Atty. Flaminiano that there are no issuances that control the height of buildings,” Atienza said.
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