"Does this spell disaster for the vice mayor?"
"Does this spell disaster for the vice mayor?"
About two weeks ago, I was in the vicinity of the Quezon City Hall when this sudden urge to watch a session of the City Council just hit me. Of course, I was just taking chances to see if there was a session that day. Fortunately, there was—and it was about granting exemptions to ongoing building constructions in the city.
One of the projects to be heard that day was 22-story residential condominium in Barangay Sacred Heart, the subject of a court litigation among the Morato siblings, which I have been following closely.
To refresh everyone’s mind, former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office chairman Manuel “Manoling” Morato, the eldest of the Morato clan, and his siblings, sued their youngest brother, Jose “Pepito” Morato, accusing him of falsifying documents to facilitate the sale of a prime piece of property which supposedly belongs to all of them and on which their ancestral house stands.
Sources bare that it was the Belmontes (Yes, the family of former Speaker Feliciano “Sonny” Belmonte) who reportedly acquired the property, with Pepito retaining a certain percentage. And as the Moratos allege, Pepito and the Belmontes, supposedly entered into an agreement with the Aiomi Residence Corp. for the construction of the condominium.
But while the falsification of the documents to facilitate the sale of property might be internal to the Moratos, the involvement of the Belmontes in the issue might put Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte in hot water.
As presiding officer of the City Council, Joy reportedly issued a special permit to green light the construction of the condominium which included the demolition of the ancestral house of the Moratos which was constructed in the 1950s. The special permit was said to have been issued on the basis of a City Ordinance which created the Morato Avenue as a commercial area.
However, this order, the Moratos allege, directly violates Republic Act 10066 which provides protection for heritage structures 50 years and older. This prohibits the demolition without going to court.
In fact, the Moratos prize their ancestral house so much, describing it as rich as the Philippine history.
“Our ancestral house was a beautiful six-bedroom house. If you enter it, its like being in Europe. All the narra, molave used there are now prohibited to be cut by law. My father was a lumberman and owned the first plywood company in the country, Philippine Plywood Corporation,” Manoling says.
Sadly, with its demolition, the grandiose design including its marble fixtures and collections of paintings are no longer to be found.
And aside from violating RA 10066, Manoling claims Pepito and his partners also violated Republic Act 4850 which created the Laguna Lake Development Authority, which he says is the sole body authorized to issue developmental clearances.
In his column the other day, Manoling cited a Supreme Court-decided case, which upheld the authority of the LLDA on the issuance of developmental clearances on projects which might affect Laguna Lake.
“The Court has assisted not only the PAB [Pollution Adjudication Board], but other quasi-judicial agencies such as the LLDA, whose power to issue a CDO [cease and desist] ordering the City Government of Caloocan, Metropolitan Manila Authority, their contractors and other entities to completely halt, stop and desist from dumping any form or kind of garbage and other waste matter at the dumpsite in Barangay Camarin, Tala Estate, Caloocan City was upheld by the Court in the case of Laguna Lake Development Authority v. Court of Appeals, 231 SCRA 292 (1994),” Manoling stated in his column in another paper, adding that the Court referred to the LLDA Charter which invested the agency “with sufficiently broad powers in the regulation of all projects initiated in the Laguna Lake region, whether by the government or the private sector, insofar as the implementation of these projects concerned.”
I may not be a lawyer but based on my limited knowledge on legal issues, I am quite sure a City Ordinance cannot supersede a Republic Act which the special permit issued by the Joy Belmonte-led City Council.
The City Council usurped its power when it disregarded RA 10066. Manoling adds the Quezon City Council also usurped the function of the Laguna Lake Development Authority under RA 4850.
“As such, the Quezon City Council cannot issue “special permits” without the concurrence of the Laguna Lake Development Authority from Caloocan city to Quezon Province where the polluted water are drained in the canals leading to Laguna Lake; the only body of water that supplies Metro Manila and all the way down to Quezon Province. If the Laguna Lake dies of pollution, the entire Metro Manila will die as well,” says Manoling.
And when the City granted exemption to the condominium project during the last hearing, it lost the golden opportunity to correct the error it might have committed earlier.
Alas now, Joy’s special permit might not be so special now as during the hearing, and the Moratos say they are considering bringing Joy to the court.
And while Councilor Marvin Rillo, Chairman, Committee on City Planning, Building and Zoning assured the Moratos their side would be heard in another hearing, it just couldn’t bring any relief for the vice mayor.
Her special permit might in fact spell disaster for her fledgling political career.