We would like to clarify that contrary to the media report, it was actually the Davao City Local Zoning Review Committee, not IDIS, who submitted the proposed amendments on the Urban Ecological Enhancement Sub-Zone (UEESZ) provision in the Davao City Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance for second reading at the City Council.
The Local Zoning Review Committee (LZRC) is a recommendatory body created under the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance 2013. IDIS, along with Ecoteneo, represent Davao City environmental NGOs as members in the committee and support the proposed amendments. The 25% recommendation was a decision of the LZRC, a collegial body, so to say that the 25% is solely recommended by IDIS is erroneous and is an insult to the discretion and authority of the committee.
On the concern regarding administrative penalties amounting to P500 per day on those who built new structures after the amendment took effect in 2013, this is an existing penalty already provided under the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance prior to the proposed amendments. That the land owners were not informed and the local government seemed to have no efforts to advise them on the matter, unfortunately ignorance of the law excuses no one from compliance. The government has complied with the publication requirement and a copy of the said ordinance is available online in the LGU website.
As far as civil society organizations are concerned, the Save Davao Shrine Hills Advocates started the campaign on Shrine Hills as early as 2006 and intensified the promotion when the Mines & GeoSciences Bureau released the results of the Terrain Analysis Study in 2009 identifying all the vulnerabilities of Shrine Hills. Various fora and dreaming sessions on Shrine Hills were also conducted, gathering advocates, land owners and developers since then. IDIS also funded the installation of billboard maps in Shrine Hills in 2015 and 2018 to inform the public that they are within a conservation area. The Sustainable Davao Movement, of which IDIS is a member, has also campaigned for Shrine Hills including the promotion of the park connector model as proposed by the visionary Arch. Jim Palma, birdwatching activities, photo contests, exhibits and social media publicity to spread awareness on the ecological value and geological hazards of Shrine Hills.
The 2013 Zoning Ordinance does not allow ANY DEVELOPMENT AT ALL in the UEESZ except for greening activities. It is actually in the current proposed amendments by the LZRC that allows for development to be introduced in the UEESZ provided it follows certain requirements to ensure proper regulation.
With the proposed amendments, both small land-owners and big developers are given options. The Executive Department, particularly the City Planning Development Office, is recommending schemes similar to that of the Investment Incentive Code of the city. Shrine Hills land owners and developers may have two years exemption of real property tax, floor space credit equivalent to a maximum of three times the area that they will allow to be used as privately-owned publicly open space (POPOS) and use Shrine Hills property to comply with the additional 10% green space Davao City requirement to the 30% open space as prescribed by the national law for subdivisions. The City Legal Office also maintains its stand that the proposed amendments do not violate the equal protection clause nor was there any violation of due process. It also asserts that there is no need for compensation for affected land owners because this is within the Local Government’s exercise of police powers and not eminent domain. PROPERTY RIGHTS MUST YIELD TO THE GENERAL WELFARE.
While we do not always agree with government positions or support government initiatives, we reiterate that in the case of the proposed amendments for the 222-hectare ueesz in shrine hills, we at IDIS along with other members of the Sustainable Davao Movement and Save Davao Shrine Hills, support the City Government in its power to regulate development in Shrine Hills to ensure health, public safety, and general welfare of Dabawenyos.
We also acknowledge the studies conducted by the DENR-MGB on the vulnerabilities of Shrine Hills that we ourselves have witnessed recently with the Diversion road closed and some residents displaced due to landslide. While we recognize the property rights of the land owners in Shrine Hills, we hope that for their own safety and the interest of Dabawenyos, other options can be explored aside from infrastructure development.
Being the only remaining forest block in the Davao’s urban center housing as many as 72 species of birds, Shrine Hills can address the city’s desperate need for more public parks and green space within the urban district especially in the light of increasing population and massive urban deforestation. We cannot truly claim that “Life is here” in Davao City when disaster awaits us Dabawenyos in pursuit of “development”. Instead, we hope that we can say that “Life is here” in Davao City because we have protected our natural resources for the present and future generations and by all means, have ensured development to be sustainable and not harmful to present constituents.
If our advocacy to defend the Constitutional rights of Dabawenyos to a balanced ecology as well as promote nature’s rights make us an “unfair” player in Davao City, then so be it but we assure you that we will persist and we shall continue this fight.