A Manila city engineer official and two other engineers are facing graft cases before the Office of the Ombudsman for not implementing the ‘setback rules’ in a newly constructed building at Chinatown in violation of the National Building Code of the Philippines
City Engineer officer-in-charge Rogelio Legaspi along with Engr. Reynaldo Algenio and Engr. Manuel Garcia were formally charged by Binondo Barangay Chairman Nelson Ty of Brgy. 289 Zone 27 for violating the country’s building code.
In his 10-page complaint, Ty accused Legaspi and others for collaborating with businessman Gerie Chua and private contractor Jimi Lim to seize the public property and ignore the “setback law” when they constructed the 14-storey building owned by Chua.
Chua and Lim, owner of Ironcon Builder and Development were likewise charged as private respondents in the case.
Under P.D. 1096, a three-meter ease or interval in front of a building from the owner’s property line should be used as a public road, but in the case of Chua’s building at Ongpin Street, Ty said Legaspi gave favor to the use of the public road, despite knowing that it is a clear violation of the law.
“The foregoing acts of herein respondent public officials who apparently tried to give reasonable favors and accommodation to private respondents Chua and Lim despite the blatant violation of the mandatory provisions of the Building Code of the Philippines to utter prejudice and damage of the general public in particular,” Ty said in his complaint.
The Filipino-Chinese Community condemned the biased actuation, with Legaspi saying that they had been religiously complying with the building code while Chua illegally exempted him.
The issue of the “setback law” was raised by President Rodrigo Duterte on Boracay Island due to the occupation of buildings and establishments built near the 30-meter buffer zone from the island’s seas. This led the President to order to shut down the Boracay operation for six months until the island was cleared of environmental issues.
Ty also included in his charge sheet DPWH Buildings Management Cluster-UMPO Project Director Atty. Johnson Domingo, inspectors Dean Cesar Billoso, Neal Jasper Mory Prieto, Gerard Onate and Victor Badillo.
