DILG backs Baguio’s proposed moratorium on high-rise buildings

THE DEPARTMENT of Interior and Local Government (DILG) has expressed support to the Baguio City local government’s proposal to implement a one-year moratorium on the construction of high-rise buildings in the country’s summer capital. “I strongly agree with Mayor Benjie Magalong on the moratorium in the construction of high-rise buildings in Baguio City. The city is now heavily congested and it’s taking so much toll on the environment. The city’s environmental condition is now a priority concern of the interagency task force headed by Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu,” said DILG Secretary Eduardo M. Año in a statement on August 12. “The city needs to pause, breathe, and be healed because of over development. Let us save Baguio City while we still can,” he said. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Cordillera Administrative Region held a public consultation last July 29, wherein the draft executive order (EO) setting the moratorium was among the issues discussed. Mr. Año said a copy of the EO draft has been submitted to the President. The order also comes with a proposed funding component to implement priority rehabilitative projects such as the upgrading and expansion of the city’s sewerage treatment system. “The proposed EO will pave the way for a reevaluation of the city’s urban development planning in order to consider the impact to the environment,” said Mr. Año. — Vince Angelo C. Ferreras