Developer given 7 days to adopt mitigating measures, comply with ECC
An official of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB 7) said the site of the proposed Villa Sebastiana Subdivision in barangay Tawason in Mandaue City is not landslide-prone.
If it were, EMB 7 regional director Engr. William Cuñado said they would not have allowed the development of a subdivision in the area.
He said the collapse of the project’s riprap, which killed a 14-year-old boy, could be blamed on nature,
“More on nature ang problema ani so ang nahitabo ani, kay rainy days, ni-give in gyod kay rainy days kusog man ang (It was caused by nature. What happened was the riprap gave in because of the heavy rains). There was erosion in the area and the foundation was not very stable,” he said after a technical conference with property developer AIDFAZ Development Corp. on Monday.
The Cortes-owned developer was given seven days, starting Monday, to pay the fines for violations it committed, provide financial assistance to families affected by the collapse of its riprap, adopt mitigating measures and comply with all conditions in its Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC).
Only then will it be allowed to continue the development of its maiden subdivision project, the Villa Sebastiana Subdivision.
Among the measures that the developer has vowed to implement is to build a strong permanent wall and provide a telephone number that residents living near the project site can call for emergencies.
Monday’s technical conference between EMB officials and AIDFAZ officials led by company president Teresa Cortes-Vasquez focused on how the developer and contractor can avoid another accident at the project site.
“We are not looking always for penalty because we are looking first sa pagsulbad sa problema (on how to solve the problem). The best thing, we have to make the contractors or project proponents pursue the implementation of the mitigating measures,” he said.
Part of Villa Sebastiana’s riprap, weakened by continuous heavy rains, collapsed on a house and buried 14-year-old Vicente Cariquitan Jr. under mud and limestone. Two other Cariquitan siblings were injured.
Cuñado said the bureau has yet to determine the administrative fines that will be imposed on AIDFAZ for violating four ECC conditions. Each violation is subject to P25,000 to P50,000 fine.
He also said the contractor has been required to submit a proposed detailed plan for the permanent walls.
Cuñado said AIDFAZ blamed the lack of personnel for its failure to comply with all ECC conditions.
“Wala daw silay na-point nga (They don’t have a) pollution control officer who is assigned to prepare all the documents,” he said.
On the part of the EMB, Cuñado said conducting site inspections is a challenge because they have only five personnel to inspect almost 5,000 subdivision projects in Central Visayas.
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