DAVAO City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio told the FTC Group of Companies, the developer of Aeon Towers, to take down their boom cranes immediately or else the building will never be allowed to open or if the builders insist, then she will order the demolition of the ongoing construction to conform with the allowable height of obstruction for airplane flight paths.
"We will not adjust to them," the city mayor said in a media interview on Tuesday, October 24, adding that the issue is about public safety and not any individual business' concerns.
Duterte-Carpio said she did not approve of the requested extended time asked by the developer of Aeon Towers for the removal of the crane that endangers the flights going to and from the Francisco Bangoy International Airport (Davao Airport).
The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (Caap) has ordered the boom cranes on top of the condominium construction to be taken down because it is on the flight path and poses danger to airplanes.
"I did not approve for the extension until November because their reason is they do not want to spend beyond their budget to take the crane down," she said.
"We will not adjust to them, they should be the one who should adjust to public, they should not dictate to the government what to do, because the directive given to them is not harmful or illegal," she said.
Duterte-Carpio said she gave three options to the developers.
"We initially told them to take it down, and then the expenses will be charged to them. Number two is, I told them that if that will not be removed in five days that building will never open. You can never ever conduct business in Davao city in that building. And number three, I told them that if they will not follow the city and CAAP, we will demolish the portion of the building so that the crane can be installed that will not violate the height limit. We will demolish and we will charge it to you," she said.
Duterte-Carpio added that the city will have the capacity to pay for the cost of the removal.
"Until they will not pay for the government of the removal of the crane, and if they will not remove then crane we will demolish three uppermost floors and the crane will be installed," she said.
Meanwhile, Duterte-Carpio said that she is pushing for the height limit ordinance in the city depending on the area.
She added that this is also to prevent situations when buildings built beside subdivisions are being used to take advantage to "peep" on the residents of the subdivision.
"That kind of situation is considered as a legitimate condition of the LGUs," she said.
Davao City Councilor Bonifacio Militar, during the Pulong Pulong ni Pulong (PPP) media forum on Tuesday, October 24, said they are considering to amend the ordinance allowing construction of buildings to require that only height provided by Caap will be allowed.
"We have to amend the ordinance that whatever structures added to the height limitation should be included," he said.
Militar said the situation came as a surprise and they will make sure that this becomes an example to all developers.
Davao City Councilor Melchor Quitain Jr. said that the problem of the crane at Aeon Towers is a "sign of the city's progress" but he assured that this kind of issue will not happen again in the future.