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Friday, March 29, 2024

A different sauce for the gander?

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"The Quezon City government treated the Morato ancestral house differently from the Quezon house."

 

In 2011, the Quezon City government made a request to the National Historical Commission of the Philippines to declare the late President Manuel Luis Quezon’s sprawling house in Gilmore St. a heritage site. This follows reports that Quezon’s heirs were planning on selling the 3,678-square-meter property where he lived while recovering from tuberculosis before World War II.

Quezon, president during the Commonwealth era, also briefly served as mayor of Quezon City which was established in 1939 and which was named after him. Tomas Morato took over the post.

According to a news report published in August 14, 2011, it was actually former Speaker Feliciano “Sonny” Belmonte who initiated the move to have the Quezon ancestral house declared a heritage site, even commissioning an inspection of the property as early as 2008 after reports of the planned sale first surfaced. 

“I really think the city government should move not only to declare the Quezon property a heritage site but also to acquire and preserve it,” Belmonte was quoted as saying then.

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Quezon City planning and development officer Tomasito Cruz then wrote NHCP chairperson Maria Serena Diokno manifesting the city government’s intention of registering the property as “an important cultural treasure.”

In his letter dated August 8, Cruz wrote: “It was brought to the attention of the city government that the Quezon-Avanceña property located along Gilmore Avenue is being offered for sale.

“May we therefore request your good agency [to tell us] the possible options on how to acquire subject property and declare it a heritage site in accordance with the National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009,” Cruz further stated in his letter.

The property on which the house once stood was eventually sold, but not before the house was transferred to it present site at the Quezon Memorial Circle. But what this incident clearly tells us is that Belmonte is such an avid disciple of history and admirer of everything that has something to do with it. It is as if with Belmonte, heritage sites will always be preserved and protected.

A few years later, another potential heritage site, the Morato ancestral house was offered for sale. While the house, built in the 1950s, could easily qualify for “protection” under Republic Act 10066 which provides protection for heritage structures 50 years and older, prohibiting their demolition without going to court, the Quezon City Government could have easily showed the same compassion it had exhibited in the case of the Quezon ancestral house. Anyway, it was the tandem of Mayor Herbert Bautista and Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte who headed the city government in 2011 and 2014.

The sale of the ancestral house of the Moratos, tainted with controversies and alleged fraud, is another story. It is the subject of a court case among the siblings as it was alleged that their youngest brother forged documents to lay claim to the property along with his supposed co-buyers of the property.

The question that lingers is why the Quezon City government treated the Morato ancestral house differently from the Quezon house. Isn’t the sauce for the goose also good for the gander?

The answer might lie in the identities of the co-buyers of Jose Morato, the youngest of the Morato siblings.

According the complaint filed by the Moratos before the Office of the Ombudsman, Jose managed to fake documents to effect the sale of the property to his own company, JLM Trading Corporation and his co-buyers – Jaime Miguel, Juan Kevin and Feliciano Isaac – children of former Speaker Sonny Belmonte and brothers of Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte. Jose and the Belmonte brothers, the complainants stated in their document, entered into an agreement with Sta. Lucia Land, Inc. for the construction of a 21-story condominium over the properties in question. The work commenced in April 2018.

The complainants accused the respondents, mainly Jose Morato and the Belmonte brothers, of soliciting the active participation and intervention of their sister, Vice Mayor Joy, in the approval and issuance of the Certificate of Exception denominated as Resolution No. 7176 Series of 2017 as evidenced by the Minutes df the 35th Regular Session held on July 17, 2017. This was approved and signed by Vice Mayor Joy herself.

The complainants further aver that the respondents conspired with one another in securing the special permit for the construction of the condominium over the contested properties.

So why the different treatment on the case of the Moratos? Maybe Vice Mayor Joy can answer that herself.

* * *

A friend called me up yesterday and shared with me their unfortunate experience at the Trinoma Mall last Saturday.

According to my friend, his granddaughter accidentally slipped inside the mall suffering a busted lip and broken nose. To their surprise, no immediate help was in sight. They had to go to the concierge to seek assistance who then called up a security guard.

After around five minutes, a security guard arrived and it was only then he started radioing for medical assistance. After another five minutes, according to my friend, a medic arrived carrying with him an empty ice bag. Yup, empty with no ice or even cold water. This medic then called for back-up and after ten minutes another medic arrived, this time carrying with her some tissue.

It was at that point my friend decided to leave and proceed to the nearest hospital. 

Is this how a premier mall operates? Incapacitated to provide medical assistance or even first aid to those who who might suffer accidents while inside their mall? 

Maybe what matters most for them is the profit and not even an iota of consideration for the kind of services they can provide for their clientele.

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