Atenean activism. Sanggunian President Drew Copuyoc rallied students in the QC City Hall in an attempt to convince local government to halt the construction of the SMDC Blue Residences. Photo by Tim Arafiles.

IN A bid to step up the pressure on Shoemart Development Corporation (SMDC) to halt the construction of the Blue Residences, around 30 Ateneans flocked to Quezon City Hall last June 6, attempting to ask councilors to revoke the zoning exemption granted to the project.

However, the effort did not go as planned. Out of the 18 councilors that the students targeted for lobbying, only a few were available for a personal meeting. The rest were reportedly not in the city hall.

The students were seeking support for proposed resolution no. 10-223, which was proposed by Councilors Precious Castelo, Alfred Vargas and Allan Reyes last December 2010. The resolution seeks to revoke the exemption granted to SMDC.

Legal options

Atty. Theodore Te of the University of the Philippines said that filing a case against SMDC was going to be expensive for the Loyola Heights community. As such, Sanggunian Vice President Gio Alejo said that it was out of the question, as they would need a bond to match SMDC’s daily earnings. This meant roughly P500,000 a day.

According to Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board Commissioner Antonio Bernardo, there is no reason for him to deny SMDC’s request for a permanent license to sell Blue Residences condominium units because their documents are complete.

SMDC had previously obtained a temporary license to sell. This had already expired, though, which means that the corporation has been illegally pre-selling Blue Residences condominium units. However, Alejo said that this could easily be settled by paying fines.

As there are no grounds for Bernardo to refuse SMDC a license, the only thing that he was able to do is to defer his decision to July 15.

Alejo thus said that time is of utmost importance.

“For every day that nothing happens, the building rises even higher,” Alejo said in Filipino.

Putting words into action

The lobbying effort last June 6 involved around 30 students, mostly from the Sanggunian and Council of Organizations in the Ateneo (COA). They gathered in Quezon City hall to give their letters and position papers to different councilors from districts one, three and four.

In one lobbying spiel, the student representatives said that they opposed the resolution as it was passed “arbitrarily, with patent bias, and recklessly.”

“The Loyola Heights Community is the main stakeholder in this issue yet we were not consulted and we feel as if we were not well-represented in the decisions of the [Quezon City] Council. Our welfare and best interest was not protected by the 17th [Quezon City] Council, and we really hope that the 18th [Quezon City] Council will be more just and accountable in its proceedings,” a copy of the spiel read.

They added that they had tried to dialogue with SMDC officials, but reached no fruitful outcome because the company consistently failed to send decision-makers to the meetings.

In a widely circulated Facebook note posted a few months ago, former Sanggunian President Rob Roque said that the primary issue was good governance. “If the City Council is supposed to be composed of the representatives of the people, it’s a wonder why they passed an exception despite the strongest opposition from all stakeholders in the community,” he said.

This was echoed recently by current Sanggunian President Drew Copuyoc in another Facebook note, wherein he called people to join the June 6 lobbying effort. “We are serious in our bid to push for a revocation of the zoning requirement exemption given to SMDC for the Blue Residences… We are committed to ensuring that our government is just and accountable in its governance.”

Less-than-ideal results

Copuyoc told the group that June 6 would be the ideal day to submit their letters, as it was the first day of work in the offices.

But the effort met its first setback at the hall’s information counter. Before the students can go to the councilors’ offices, they had to first secure an ID pass and the go-signal from the secretaries at the front desk to proceed.

Immediately, it was learned that four of the councilors targeted for lobbying were having a closed-door meeting. As for the other councilors, the group was only able to reach their staff secretaries, as the officials were not present.

The effort did see some success, as councilor Eufemio Lagumbay met with Sanggunian Secretary-General Ian Agatep and Ateneo Resident Students Association President Justin Tan. Agatep explained the SMDC situation and the Sanggunian’s moves to gather support for the revocation of the exemption to Lagumbay.

However, Lagumbay said that the student council should first assess whether the project is good for the student body. “Don’t look at its procedural flaws, look at it objectively,” he said.

He mentioned that he had already talked to members of the Loyola Heights community and advised them to go to court, but that they refused, citing distrust in the courts.

“I cannot categorically give you [a commitment] because I have to see the facts first,” Lagumbay said. “It is not just the approval of one person [that matters]; it is the approval of the council.”

“If I see that there are indeed procedural flaws, then I will be voting for the revocation,” he said in a mix of Filipino and English.

‘Politics trump values’

For COA Vice President for Organizational Research and Development Irwin Amago, the whole effort was “frustrating.”

“At the start, I really felt that it would make an impact,” he said in mixed English and Filipino. “But going into it, [it’s like councilors] were already decided on how to vote.”

He said that he sensed resignation from the councilors that they talked to. “It’s like they were saying, ‘we can’t argue values, because politics trump values all the time.’”

According to Copuyoc, though, there were still some things that the lobbying achieved.

“We know that this is an uphill battle—to have this proposed resolution revoking the exemption [passed],” Copuyoc said.

Copuyoc said that even the city hall personnel were surprised; none of them were expecting the arrival of the lobbyists. “I guess this is the first sign of real commitment from a lot of students… It was really just to send a message [to the councilors].”

Copuyoc also mentioned that they were able to get informal commitments of support from two councilors, Jaime Borres and Allan Reyes, and the President of the Quezon City Sangguniang Kabataan, who also sits in the city council.

COA President Ken Abante agreed, and said that the effort “was able to show how serious we are in this issue.” However, he acknowledged that there are “a lot of barriers to getting [across] to the system.”

Copuyoc said that the plan of action now is to communicate with Councilor Bong Suntay, the majority floor leader of the city council. According to him, this is the “most crucial” move, since Suntay has the power to put the issue in the city council’s agenda.

“[Without getting the issue in the agenda], there’s zero percent hope that the resolution revoking the exemption would be passed,” Copuyoc explained in Filipino.

Editor’s Note: Amago’s position has been renamed as “VP for Organization Strategies and Research.”

Updated 6:09 AM, June 17, 2011.