Wednesday, April 09, 2008 Stop SM hotel over pine stand, councilor urges
THE Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) should not allow Show Mart Investments Corp. (SMIC) from further destroying the lungs of the city.
This was the plea of Councilor Betty Lourdes Tabanda over the reported plans of SMIC of building either a hotel or condominium on the pine stand adjacent to the Baguio Convention Center.
Tabanda called on the GSIS management to maintain the mini forest and keep it as one of the city's breathing spaces in the central business district.
The councilor joined the bandwagon of those opposing alleged plans of SMIC of putting up a hotel or condominium in the area.
Although admitting that the city cannot dictate on the GSIS on how to make use of its properties, Tabanda said the city could prevent the supposed construction, using its Zoning Ordinance as basis.
"We cannot prevent GSIS from doing what it wants with its property, but we can invoke local ordinances (to stop any development in the area)," she stressed.
She said if development in the area does not conform to zoning regulations, the city has the right to control construction activities. The lot is designated as an "institutional zone," which only allows government activity in the area.
Former mayor Braulio Yaranon also called on Baguio Mayor Reinaldo Bautista Jr. and members of the City Council to be on guard over SMIC's reported plans. Similar to Tabanda's argument, Yaranon said GSIS may sell the land, but forested area must not be touched.
"The area should be preserved. It's a bigger forest than what we have in Burnham," Yaranon said, adding that the area is not supposed to be used for commercial purposes.
Several members of the City Council filed separate resolutions opposing the reported plans for the put-up of a building there, claiming this would upset the city's ecological balance.
The pine stand was man-made when former First Lady Imelda Marcos ordered the sprucing up of the area for an international chess match in 1979. Since that time no construction was allowed over the area by the National Government. (RO/SB)
