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Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Folks hold rally anew v. construction of cemetery
By Marna H. Dagumboy
FLORIDABLANCA -- Residents of Barangay Fortuna here on Monday staged a protest rally again against the alleged "illegality" of the approval of a barangay resolution proposing the re-classification of a residential area in the town into a memorial park.
Barangay Fortuna Chairman Michael So said that Benjamin Garcia, former chairman in the barangay, approved a barangay permit issued to Arturo Navarro, owner of the Elegant Stone Memorial Park (ESMP), for the construction of the cemetery without the approval of the barangay councilmen.
The barangay councilmen claimed that there was no public hearing conducted by the committee endorsing the approval of the memorial park.
On June 23, 2001, the Municipal Council led by Willand Floirendo deferred the implementation of Resolution No. 7 because the investigation was still ongoing.
So said former mayor Joe Rey Montemayor approved the request and made no objection to the request of Navarro to operate the memorial park.
During a regular session of the Municipal Council, the construction of a private cemetery was vehemently opposed, but Mayor Darwin Manalansan maintained a neutral stance in order to avoid legal complications.
Meanwhile, Manalansan noted that he would not abolish nor disapprove the ongoing construction because the building permit was approved by the previous administration.
He said Navarro had acquired all the permits legally, even as he added that the park's development would not have been approved by the agencies mentioned earlier if it would contaminate the water.
He said he does not want to send a wrong impression to investors, adding that the first-class municipality is a business and investor friendly place.
Manalansan claimed that his political foes are behind the opposition of the memorial park, saying the issue is being used against him to smear his name and add political color.
Background
Last January 23, residents in the barangay staged a protest rally at the Municipal Hall against the ongoing construction of the 4.8-hectare ESMP, located a few meters away from a water pumping station.
So said the residents, along with the barangay council, are opposing the construction of the memorial cemetery because it might affect the health of some 4,000 residents and those of the 10 neighboring barangays in the area.
He said 90 percent of the residents concerned rallied to stop the construction of the memorial park, because it would also affect the environment and water sanitation efforts here. He added that he never issued a barangay clearance for the continuation of the cemetery's construction.
However, Navarro claimed that all the pertinent documents for the development of the memorial park have all been approved, including that by the Department of Health (DOH), the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the Housing and Land Using Regulatory Board (HLURB) and the Department of Land Reform (DLR).
Navarro said he started working for the permits in 2001, and the barangay and local rural health units were all in favor of the construction, because they saw no reason to oppose it and instead would generate jobs.
He said the final endorsement of the DOH was released in April 2004 with HLURB Development Permit No. 03-04-007, DENR Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) No.03PA 0207-28069-214A and DENR Conversion Order (CO) No. 10304-012703 LUCF-2003-035.
Navarro furthered that the barangay clearance was signed by the former barangay chairman and was approved for re-classification of the site to an industrial one.
He said he followed the procedures lawfully before he acquired all the documents needed for his memorial park.
(February 7, 2006 issue)
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