THERE are similarities and differences between the Patria de Cebu project and the Cebu Capitol’s proposed new building.
The Cebu Archdiocese and private developer Cebu Landmasters Inc. (CLI)) agree to build two towers, 14-storey and 16-storey, on 7,000 square meters of land occupied by Patria, just across the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral. CLI says it will spend P1 billion for the project.
The Cebu Provincial Government will build a 20-storey government-commercial facility within the Capitol compound. The province has been granted by Development Bank of the Philippines a P1.5 billion loan for it.
Both are met with some objections, not “violent” but still the kind that could delay, if not derail plans.
Common objection
The objection common to the Patria and Capitol relates to preserving the old Patria and, in the case of the province project, how the old building will look with the additional modern building. Complaints run on similar groove: preservation of the cultural and historical value and appearance of the existing buildings.
The National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) in a letter dated March 2, 2017 informed the Capitol, through Provincial Administrator Mark Tolentino, the proposed new structure “distorts balance and symmetry” of the Capitol. It is too high and, NHCP said, will destroy the symmetry on both sides.
Melva Java and Eileen Mangubat, volunteer lay members of the Commission on Cultural Heritage of the Church Tuesday (Nov. 27), wrote Archbishop Jose Palma not to tear down Patria and keep it as part of the commissioned modern structure.
Clout and none
NHCP has legal clout when it ordered the Capitol, through Tolentino, not to proceed with any work that would bring about the imbalance and dissymmetry it talked about and not without its approval.
On the Patria case, Java, an architect, and Mangubat, a former newspaper editor and publisher, don’t have the force of the law that supports NHCP’s moves. They are merely voices that seek to rally public opinion to the cause.
And the public has stake and interest in both projects. Cebuanos, mostly Catholics and church members, should have a say on how church properties should be managed. Church officials though, as managers of a corporation sole, have not exactly been diligent in consulting their membership on fiscal matters. A church publicist already said the project is a “done deal.” Occupants have been notified to vacate Patria by yearend, presumably to start demolition.
Not the Capitol project yet. Although the loan has been approved, there is no sign of the ground being prepared for the construction.
Traffic, business
What may surprise us is that little noise has been raised over crucial questions that apply to both projects, such as the massive traffic that would be generated by two commercial centers in locations intended principally for government activity. The buildings would have parking places required by building laws and ordinances but how about the mechanism and strategies for traffic moving in and out of the areas?
Or on the Capitol project: the question of whether the LGU would not suffer in basic services because of the loan and this: would bureaucrats have the energy or skill to engage in business, which is what managing the complex would require?
Come to think of it, should the LGU, or for that matter the church, engage in business at all? For now, the worry is only over preserving the historic building or its look. The other questions don’t seem to matter.