Great Grand Nephew of Dr. Jose Rizal Called for Demolition of Torre De Manila

Wazzup Pilipinas!

"The real value of the monument of Dr. Jose Rizal, considered as the Philippines' National Hero, is determined not by the beautiful pictures we make from it, but how we really remember Rizal, share, and apply his vision for the betterment of our nation."

Armed with placards, Isaac Reyes, a great grand nephew of Dr. Jose Rizal, called for the demolition of the 48-storey building for ruining the sightline of the national hero's monument at Rizal Park.

Isaac honored his word and returned the following day after the ceremony held at Luneta the previous day to commemorate the death of the national hero during Rizal Day on December 30 - the day of Rizal's execution at Bagumbayan, now known as Rizal Park, in 1896. 

The first time I saw him was during a news report where he was interviewed and encouraged others to join him in his objective to make people remember how crudely distracting the great photobomber Torre De Manila building is. 

Known as the Pambansang Photobomber ng Pilipinas, Torre De Manila is a condominium project of DM Consunji Inc. (DMCI), one of the big developers in the country. It is under heavy criticism for defacing the view of the Rizal monument. What was normally a proud postcard moment for most pictures taken at the sight have been ruined by the disturbing presence of the one-tower condominium development at the background.

Penalizing is a flaw in the construction industry, and contractors have abused it throughout the years. Most of the time, contractors secure permits legally. When they get the permit, they will violate it and just pay the fine for noncompliance. That's not corruption, that's a loophole. If we can just create a law to demolish whatever they constructed without compliance and give them an ultimatum, our urban planning will improve.

Something good could come out of something ugly. Just penalize those responsible for the construction, use the sum to improve the park. What I don't like about the park is that they do not allow bikers inside. There should be a bikers' lane.

Maybe fine the contractors with billions of pesos for doing these things? Demolishing the structure may be a great impossibility considering we are dealing with a big company who can easily find ways to run around the law. I am not sure the Torre de Manila can be totally stopped.

Let's face reality, the time has come when progress catch up in the area. But what can we really do about it when even the government itself permitted the construction in the first place?

 Let's avoid committing the same mistake again by restructuring the government. This can be done by putting the right people in government.