Building owners renew call for passage of Green Building Act

Building owners and managers across the country on Tuesday renewed their call for Congress to pass a measure requiring the construction of any type of building to incorporate space allotted to trees and flora.

“Maybe this 18th Congress would be a good time now ... I don’t know why the Green Building Act is still stalled,” Eduardo Manahan, chairman of the Building Owners and Managers Association of the Philippines (BOMAP), said in a press conference in Makati City.

Manahan last year said the association is pushing for the passage of the Green Building Act which mandates build permit applicants to set aside an area for trees and flora.

Principally authored by DIWA Party-list Representative Emmeline Aglipay-Villar, the bill was approved by the House of Representatives on third and final reading in August 2018.

Its counterpart in the Senate, authored by former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, has yet to be approved.

Marcos’ proposal the buildings and construction developments on a par with global standards will receive incentives by way of tax breaks, and other benefits.

“It’s a matter maybe of having it passed, and then the IRR (implementing rules and regulations) that will be one of the bases of what should be done, should be implemented the soonest,” Manahan told reporters on the sidelines of the International Built Environment Week Manila Roadshow.

“We in the organization, not only the BOMAP but also the PABA (Philippine Association of Building Administrators), would be much glad,” he added. —VDS, GMA News