PHOTO above shows the river wall built by the project’s developer; below, an aerial view of the project lying along the meandering course of the Marikina River. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
A REAL ESTATE development project in Quezon City has apparently gotten local officials of three cities in Metro Manila and four Rizal towns worried.
Armed with photographs, Marikina City officials have claimed that the project, Circulo Verde, had encroached on a portion of Marikina River and which could have an adverse effect on flooding in the areas concerned particularly during the rainy season.
The photos taken in September 2010 showed a construction work of the Ortigas & Co. occupying at least five meters of the river. Another picture which was taken months later featured the completed river wall which the developer claimed to have improved the river’s flow.
In a statement last week, Ortigas & Co. said Circulo Verde, a 12-hectare development project along Calle Industria in Quezon City, had never reclaimed land, nor had it extended its property and in fact, it had built a riverbank protection wall.
Project consultant speaks
Sought for comment, Engr. Bienvenido Galang of DCCD, the engineering consultant of Circulo Verde, said the picture the city government gave to the Inquirer was an “optical illusion.”
PHOTO above shows the river wall built by the project’s developer; below, an aerial view of the project lying along the meandering course of the Marikina River. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
“The photo was taken from the point of the bridge and this bridge is not perpendicular to the river, thus creating an illusion that the project was protruding,” Galang said over the phone.
He said that in an aerial view, one can see that the property followed the meandering course of the river. He added that there was also a 16-meter allowance from the river to the Circulo Verde in accordance to the easement provision of the Water Code of the Philippines.
“Ortigas & Co. is a responsible developer. It prefers the smooth flow of the Marikina River,” Galang said, adding that reviving the river is one of its advocacies.
He insisted that the developer had not encroached on the river nor extended its property.
But Paul Sison, Marikina’s public information chief, claimed the river wall only ensured that floodwater coming from the river would not easily spill into Circulo Verde.
“Clearly, this river wall does not merely control the riverflow, it constricts the river,” Sison said in an interview.
The official said Circulo Verde was not just going against any government agencies like the Department of Public Works and Highways or the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) but against nature itself which could possibly unleash 20 to 25 meters of water as seen last September 2009.
The local government of Marikina has expressed concern over the alleged reclamation of a portion of the river since the city lies next to the upper side of the river.
Alliance of Seven
Earlier, an MMDA official was quoted by Marikina Mayor Del de Guzman accusing the Circulo Verde Project as the cause of the river’s constriction from its width of 150 meters to just 50 meters.
“If there was no encroachment, what is this?” Sison said while pointing at a picture taken in September 2010.
“If the river was narrowed, the river water would go directly to Marikina’s residential areas during a heavy downpour,” Sison said.
Vic Sabiniano, Marikina City administrator, said an alliance of seven cities in the eastern metropolis is now studying legal actions against Circulo Verde.
“We are alarmed that another storm with half the strength of Tropical Storm ‘Ondoy’ can bring massive flooding in the seven cities,” Sabiniano said.
The seven cities are Marikina, Pasig, and Quezon City in Metro Manila and Antipolo, Cainta, San Mateo, and Rodriguez in Rizal province.
“That was the reason the Alliance of Seven was created … to look into these matters,” Sabiniano said.