High court lifts TRO on DMCI’s ‘Torre’
CONSTRUCTION of the 49-storey Torre de Manila — opposed by heritage conservation advocates for purportedly defiling Rizal Monument and its historical surroundings — has been cleared to proceed after the Supreme Court (SC) yesterday lifted the temporary restraining order (TRO) it imposed on the DMCI Homes project nearly two years ago.
Voting 9- 6, the SC sitting as full court dismissed the September 2014 petition of the Order of the Knights of Rizal for the high court to order the demolition of the residential condominium for allegedly spoiling the view of the monument of national hero Jose Rizal and defiling an area where some martyrs in the struggle against former colonial master Spain were executed. Besides citing three laws that protect monuments and other national cultural treasures, the group also cited alleged violation of Manila City’s zoning ordinance.
The media brief from the SC Public Information Office read: “The court dismissed the petition for mandamus for the reasons that the court has no jurisdiction over the subject matter, the petitioners have no standing to sue and they stand to suffer no injury.”
“As a consequence of the judgment rendered today, the TRO issued by the court is lifted,” Supreme Court Spokesperson Theodore O. Te added.
DMCI Homes, in a statement, welcomed the “fair and just decision” of the high court, saying it will “resume immediately” construction of the residential condominium “to finally end the undue suffering of our stakeholders.”
“DMCI Homes will immediately advise its customers and future residents on the updated construction timeline since the initial target completion date has been critically affected by the long-standing [TRO],” the company — real estate arm of listed DMCI Holdings, Inc. whose stock price rose 3.17% to P13 apiece yesterday against the 2.004% increase of the Philippine Stock Exchange’s holding firms sectoral index — said in its statement.
The court issued the TRO on June 16, 2015.
The decision was penned by Senior Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio. Concurring were Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes P.A. Sereno; Associate Justices Presbitero J. Velasco, Jr.; Lucas P. Bersamin; Mariano C. Del Castillo; Bienvenido L. Reyes; Estela M. Perlas- Bernabe; Marvic M.V.F. Leonen and Noel G. Tijam.
Dissenting were Associate Justices Teresita J. LeonardoDe Castro, Diosdado M. Peralta, Jose C. Mendoza, and Francis H. Jardeleza. Associate Justices Alfredo Benjamin S. Caguioa and Samuel R. Martires filed separate dissenting opinions.
A copy of the decision is yet to be made public by the SC.
The Order of the Knights of Rizal said that it “respects” the Supreme Court’s decision, acknowledging the “public for carrying this matter with us and for making the same as a test case for Philippine heritage for whatever the outcome would have been.”
Representatives of the group would not say if it will file a motion for reconsideration.