Manila councilor urges DPWH, parks body to drop flagpole project

MANILA, Philippines—A flagpole with a nearly P8-million price tag may be inappropriate at this time of controversy involving the use of public funds, the head of the Manila City Council’s tourism committee said.

Councilor DJ Bagatsing on Tuesday filed a draft resolution urging the Department of Public Works and Highways and the National Parks Development Committee to set aside the project for a new flagpole at Rizal Park in light of the pork barrel scam.

“It is our sincere appeal to the proponents of the new flagpole to take a more sensible and prudent path in listening to public sentiment and sustain the integrity of our national monuments,” Bagatsing said in a statement.

The project to replace the present 100-foot flagpole with a 150-foot mechanized one has been widely criticized for its P7.8-million cost. A photo of the billboard containing the project details went viral shortly after the Million People March protest against pork barrel at Rizal Park last Aug. 26.

Several Catholic bishops have also denounced the project as an abuse of people’s money.

The NPDC and the DPWH had defended the project as anything but overpriced, saying that high-quality steel would be imported from Hong Kong and that it had gone through a bidding process.

“Although seemingly aboveboard, it would be plainly inappropriate and downright insensitive to pursue this now,” Bagatsing said.

The NPDC had requested the DPWH to restore the flagpole to its original proposed height. The project aims to enhance the heritage value of Rizal Park in time for the commemoration of national hero Jose Rizal’s 117th death anniversary in December.

Recognizing the significance of the national flagpole, Bagatsing said that “no cultural landmark deserves to be in this sort of uninspiring and detrimental situation.”

“It would be very unbefitting for a significant national symbol to be unduly associated with controversy and stained by the collective uproar surrounding it,” Bagatsing added.