MANILA Mayor Joseph E. Estrada postponed his decision to take possession of the Arroceros Forest Park—one of the remaining forested areas in the city—from its current developer and caretaker, Winner Foundation.
Estrada said the city government is not abandoning its plan to recover the 21,428-square-meter (sq m) land, a property bought by the City School Board in 1993 strictly for educational purposes. He said the local government is simply responding to the appeal of Winner Chairman Regina Roces Paterno to extend the operation of the private environmental group at the Forest Park.
Estrada reminded Paterno that the city government is intent in taking back the property, which it owns under Transfer Certificate of Title 214097. Winner’s contract to manage it already expired in 2013.
“We’re here to implement the law, not to break the law,” he told Paterno and other Winner officials during a recent meeting at the City Hall. “For now, you can stay while we study how best to use that property.”
On July 7 Estrada sent a formal demand letter to Paterno ordering Winner to vacate Arroceros Park within 30 days, “otherwise the City will be constrained to avail themselves of the appropriate legal remedies to protect its ownership of the property.” The 30-day deadline expired on August 7.
“We will push through with our plans,” Estrada said. “That land was purchased to serve the students, exclusively for educational purposes, such as school facilities. It cannot be used for other purposes. We cannot divert from it.”
Documents released by the City Legal Office showed the City School Board of Manila bought the property for P65 million from the Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank); the fund was sourced from the city’s Special Education Fund.
The deed of sale was formally executed on December 23, 1993, by former Mayor Alfredo Lim and then LandBank President Jesli Lapus. LandBank agreed to the sale on the condition the property will be used solely for educational, sports, and recreational and/or public service-oriented projects envisioned by the City School Board, the documents showed.
However, a month before, Lim and Winner Foundation signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) that authorized the latter to create and develop a forest park in the property and once completed, Winner “shall turn over the same to the control and supervision of the city of Manila”.
Winner submitted a 15-year development plan, which expired in 2008, but was extended for five more years, or until 2013.
Under the subject development plan, Winner had two options when the contract lapsed in 2013: (1) turn over the park to the City of Manila and (2) renegotiate a new MOA for park management.
“The MOA has already lapsed. After that development period, Winner had agreed to voluntarily surrender everything to the city,” City Legal Officer Edward Serapio said during the meeting with Winner officials.
He also pointed out the MOA signed by Lim and Winner was void because Lim was not authorized by the city council to enter into such a deal and neither was the MOA ratified by the city council.
As envisioned by Estrada and the City School Board, Serapio said the city government will construct a sports gymnasium in a small 2,000-sq-m portion of the property for the use of the students and faculty of the city-run Universidad de Manila (UDM).
The facility, Serapio said, is a requirement for UDM’s accreditation with the Commission on Higher Education.
To address the concerns of Winner and environmental conservationists, Serapio assured the city’s taking over of the forest park and construction of the sports gym will not result in the destruction of thousands of trees and ornamental plants at the nature park.
“Any proposed use or uses must take into consideration the trees and plants in the property,” the city official said.
Located along Antonio Villegas Street (formerly Calle Arroceros), the Arroceros Forest Park is a 2.2-hectare (5.4-acre) urban forest on the south bank of the Pasig River, at the foot of Quezon Bridge.
It consists of secondary-growth forest with 61 different tree varieties and 8,000 ornamental plants providing a habitat for 10 different bird species. Despite its small size, it is considered an important feature of the city.
The riverside park lies in a historic area of Manila and has been called “Manila’s last lung”, the city’s only remaining nature park.