Taking action. The Loyola Heights community heightened their efforts against the 17th QC council over the Blue Residences controversy. Photo courtesy of Meg Rementina
TO FURTHER contest the zoning exemption granted to Shoemart Development Corporation (SMDC)’s Blue Residences, the Loyola Heights community filed a criminal case against the 17th Quezon City Council last December 14.
In their 56-page complaint filed with the Office of the Ombudsman, the complainants argued that the council violated Republic Act 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. Particularly, they cited provisions of Section III to explain how the councilors caused undue injury to the Loyola Heights community by giving SMDC unwarranted benefits with manifested partiality through the zoning exemption granted by way of Resolution no. 866.
Lawyer Giovanni Vallente, legal counselor to the Loyola Heights community, said that the filing of the case was prompted by the unresponsiveness of the members of the 18th City Council, who were sent letters urging for the revocation of the said resolution.
Only councilor Alfred Vargas, one of the proponents of Resolution no. 10-233, which called for the revocation of the Resolution no. 866, responded to the letter. “Either they’re taking the community lightly or—I don’t know why—they didn’t have the decency to respond, so we had to take the next step,” Vallente said.
If convicted, 19 of the 23 respondents who were members of the 17th City Council would not be able to run for any public office. Among the charged councilors were Jorge Banal, Winston Castelo, Anton Inton Jr., Jesus Manuel Suntay, Ramon Medalla and Franz Pumaren. The other four respondents are Isagani Verzosa Jr., Quezon City local building official, and SMDC officers Rogelio Cabuñag, Rudy Concepcion and Adelaida Cobres.
Present during the filing of the case were Loyola Schools (LS) Vice President for Administration and Planning Edna Franco, faculty and administration members, Sanggunian President Drew Copuyoc, Vice President Gio Alejo, Secretary-General Ian Agatep, and representatives of Villa Aurora, La Vista and Xavierville II.
As of press time, the Loyola Heights community is waiting for a confirmation from the Ombudsman’s office for the conduct of a preliminary investigation, estimated to take at least three months. After each respondent is given a copy of the petitioners’ affidavit, the respondents are given 15 days to file a counter-affidavit with the Ombudsman.
After a series of preliminary investigations, the Ombudsman will then determine whether it is a full-pledged case, in which case both parties will be required to make court appearances.
Crusade for “good governance”
According to Vallente, the filing of an anti-graft and corruption case against the 17th City Council was one of the Loyola Heights community’s initiatives to push for good governance, even on the local level. The exemption of SMDC from both the city’s comprehensive zoning ordinance and the national building code prompted the community to include Versoza in their complaint. Versoza had granted SMDC a building permit last January 22, 2011.
“The 17th City Council gave SM Blue an exemption which was done under questionable circumstances. Nobody from [the Loyola Heights community] knew that SMDC would erect such kind of building. We only knew of the project when the exemption was already granted without consultation,” Franco said.
Vallente added that by filing the case, they hoped that SMDC would see how the Loyola Heights community is serious about the issue, despite the uncertainty of a possible revocation.
“What’s important to us is that we’re sending a signal to local government units that they cannot just ignore the community in giving certain benefits to certain entities. We are for good governance. And part of good governance is consulting your constituents, and not giving benefits and advantages not entitled to [certain entities],” he added.
“We’re making [the 17th City Council] liable for allowing [SMDC] to do this,” said Sanggunian Vice President Gio Alejo. “Hopefully, by sending this message, they will come to their senses and take action.”
However, Vallente clarified that the Loyola Heights community is not against the Blue Residences project per se, but the granting of the exemption without due process and consultation with the stakeholders.
Aside from good governance, the Loyola Heights community also raised their concerns with regard to environmental risks, the inadequate 4:1 ratio between the number of Blue Residences units and the number of parking slots, and the worsening Katipunan traffic.
A string of futile attempts
Since the issuance of Resolution no. 866, which granted a zoning requirement exemption to SMDC last March 8, 2010, the Loyola Heights community has made a collaborative effort to engage both the 17th City Council and SMDC in dialogue.
Before sending out demand letters for the revocation of the resolution, the Loyola Heights community also staged several rallies to drum up support for Resolution 10-233, which was proposed by councilors Alfred Vargas and Precious Castelo to revoke the zoning exemptions given to SMDC.
To bring the issue to the Quezon City Council, the Loyola Heights community representatives have also been convincing minority member councilor Allan Reyes to put the agenda on the calendar since July 2011. However, Vallente relayed that this effort also seems bound to fail since majority of the 18th City Council members were also part of the 17th City Council, making the revocation of the ordinance quite impossible.
