By Jade C. Zaldivar
THE MATINA Shrine Hills are alive with the sounds of protest against the area’s unabated development into high-end housing and other commercial ventures in the city’s ongoing property boom.
Worried downhill homeowners joined by militant environmentalists, after years of raising the specter of landslides and similar doomsday scenarios, have seemingly won the sympathetic ears of some city officials.
Davao City Councilor Rachel Zozobrado yesterday formally proposed for declaration of Shrine Hills as either a protected nature reserve or natural park.
The councilor’s proposal, articulated during a privilege speech, is compatible with the wish of Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio to convert the area into a “nature park zone.” The mayor has reportedly submitted the proposal in the form of an amendment to the city’s Zoning Ordinance which is due for revision.
Shrine Hills currently host high-end residential projects which the city can do without, Zozobrado said in a privilege speech. On top of the hills are the Shrine of the Holy Infant Jesus established by the Luis-Catalina Santos family four decades ago, the headquarters and studios of three radio-tv stations, a number of watering holes and a growing community.
“Is the development of Shrine Hills into a premier location for high-end residences a necessary ingredient in the molding of our city as the emerging economic tiger of our country? Can we prosper in terms of infrastructure without touching Shrine Hills? I believe we can,” Zozobrado asked.
Zozobrado, chair of the Council’s committee on housing, cited the 2011 flashfloods that hit the city when the Pangi River overflowed, adding that contributory to this were deforestation and “wanton alteration of the river’s natural course.” The councilor however stopped short of making a connection of the floods to the development of Matina Hills.
The councilor’s position was corroborated by the Barangay Maa Federation of Homeowners Association, particularly by its president Norma Javellana, who spoke before the Council.
Javellana said modern society calls for urban living in harmony with the environment.
“Tokyo, Singapore, Beijing, these are among the world’s highly urbanized cities and yet they are those who have also allotted areas in their cities as”‘Green Space”.
Beijing and Singapore allot as much as 18 to 20 square meters (sq m) of Green Space per individual according to their population,” she said.
Javellana said residents of Barangay Maa are aware that their community is susceptible to landslides as they were direct witnesses to soil erosions, the latest of which was only last July 11.
She proposed the convertion of the Shrine Hills into a natural park that all Dabawenyos can enjoy, not just a few rich guys who can afford to buy expensive lots and fence them off to the exclusion of the ordinary families who may want to hold picnic and several activities in the park.
“Everywhere you go in Ma-a you will see cracks on the soil or little sinkholes. The ground moves ever so slightly. We cannot allow more construction or deforestation in Ma-a,” Javellana charged.
The Council approved the inclusion of Zozobrado’s resolution for hearing by her in her committee to be held on the proposal to make the Shrine Hills a protected area.
