Baguio developers wary of ban on tree cutting, new buildings

BUILDING BOOM New buildings are rising in Baguio City’s business district and its surrounding areas, altering the skyline of the once lush summer capital. —VALERIE DAMIAN

BAGUIO CITY—Real estate brokers and developers here are cautious about a moratorium on tree cutting and construction of high-rise buildings proposed by the city government, saying they are worried about its impact on property owners’ rights and local housing projects.

The consensus of the Chamber of Real Estate and Builders’ Association Inc. (Creba) is that members will heed Mayor Benjamin Magalong’s call for the suspension of development activities that require displacing trees or building high-rise structures, Creba Baguio president, Ramon Tagle, told reporters on Wednesday.

The proposed moratorium, which has been transmitted to Malacañang for approval and for funding assistance, may last from six months to a year to give the city government time to rebuild Baguio’s treeline and modernize its public facilities like the sewers.

“The moratorium would be a welcome development because of the need to review the sustainability of Baguio’s resources … [given that] its land resources are finite and must not be depleted,” said lawyer Pher Gedd de Vera, who heads the adjudication and monitoring office of the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board.

Position paper

But Tagle said Creba was also drafting a position paper to air their concerns about the moratorium’s impact on landowners as well as low-cost housing projects.

He cited the issues raised by landowners about regulations that affect their rights. He said Creba wanted clearer guidelines so owners would know their responsibilities “regarding the cutting of trees and the type of development they would like to make on their properties.”

Tagle said a moratorium could also affect social housing plans. There are few lands available for low-cost housing in the city, he said, and new high-rise tenement buildings are the only options left for social housing.

The social housing industry has not been profitable because of the rising cost of construction materials, said Denver Claveria, president for North Luzon of the Association of Socialized and Economic Housing Developers of the Philippines.

Responsible construction

Tagle said Creba and the builders industry had not seen a copy of the draft moratorium which Magalong drew up to address complaints about overcrowding and unregulated construction boom.

Most complaints center on building projects that have violated a height limit of eight stories. As many as 52 buildings have exceeded the prescribed limit, the Inquirer learned.

But developers are ready to undertake building projects “responsibly,” Tagle said.

Government engineers have said that the city’s bigger concern was the stability of tall buildings, not their height.

Tagle said the industry had been assured that buildings intended for low-income families would be exempted from the planned moratorium. Baguio’s housing backlog is between 7,000 and 10,000 units. —VINCENT CABREZA AND KIMBERLIE QUITASOL