BAGUIO CITY – The Cordillera office of the Housing Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB-CAR) and the Chamber of Real Estate Builders Association (CREBA) Baguio-Benguet chapter expressed their all-out support to the proposed implementation of a moratorium on the construction of buildings in the city but the same should not affect the government’s socialized housing projects that are being planned in suitable areas around the city.
HLURB-CAR regional director Jann Roby Otero said that while it is true that the proposed moratorium on the construction of buildings will trample on the rights of property owners over their private properties, the purpose of the temporary ban on the put up of buildings is to allow the city’s environment to recover which is for the general welfare and the common good, thus, the interest of the greater majority will prevail.
He stated that the housing agencies do not object to the proposed moratorium on the construction of buildings in the city considering that it is geared towards improving the current state of the city’s environment aside from working on policies that will help in providing opportunities for the environment to recover from the series of developments that have introduced.
However, the HLURB official claimed that it is still best to await the details of the proposed moratorium so that the housing agencies will be appropriately guided on their future actions, especially concerning the implementation of government-supported housing projects in the city.
For his part, CREBA Baguio-Benguet chapter president Ramon Ernesto Tagle pointed out that the proposed moratorium on the construction of buildings in the city will definitely affect the real estate industry considering that most of the condominium projects will be affected, especially of the said structures have not yet been started, but it is also equally important to support the government’s efforts to ensure that the city’s environment will be sound for the benefit of the present and future generations.
He revealed that the real estate group decided to support the efforts of the local government to impose a moratorium on the construction of buildings in the city through a presidential issuance considering that government is working for the common good and the welfare of the greater majority of the populace.
Earlier, the local government proposed for the implementation of a moratorium on the construction of buildings and the cutting of trees for at least one year to allow the city’s environment to recover considering the alleged over development that it had been experiencing through the years.
The proposed executive order providing for the guidelines in the implementation of the moratorium was already submitted to the Office of the President through Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu and Interior and Local government Secretary |Eduardo Anyo but the same has not yet been signed to date.
The implementation of the moratorium will also pave the way for the review of the city’s comprehensive land use plan and zoning ordinance to prevent the further construction of high rise buildings that will have a serious negative impact to the city’s state of environment in the future./Dexter A. See
