Suggestion to turn Rizal Monument around earns chuckle from Palace spokesperon

A Malacañang spokesperson on Saturday laughed off a proposal to rotate the Rizal Monument at the Luneta to face the city of Manila and resolve the controversy surrounding a high-rise condominium building that looms behind the iconic monument. 

 

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte chuckled on state-run dzRB radio when asked for her take on Manila Rep. Amado Bagatsing's proposal.

 

"(S)iguro hindi ho naman dapat yung monument ni Rizal yung galawin natin para lang umayos ho yung ano doon, di ba? Let’s leave the monument be," she said.

 

At a House of Representatives committee hearing on Torre de Manila, a project by property developer DMCI Homes that has been criticized for "photobombing" the Rizal monument, Bagatsing said he would file a resolution seeking to have the monument rotated 180 degrees.

 

"Buti pa yung kalabaw, nakaharap sa siyudad. Bakit si Rizal, nakatalikod?" Bagatsing said, referring to a carabao statue in Rizal Park.

 

The National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) is against the proposal.

 

According to NCCA lawyer Trixie Angeles, Rizal's statue was made to face the sea as a sign of respect.

 

"Tingnan mo ang real estate values ng properties pag nakaharap sila sa tubig—[riverside], oceanside, seaside properties. Mahal 'yan. Kung kaya't binibigay natin kay Rizal ang pinakamahalagang real estate dito sa buong bansa," she said.

 

The construction of the Torre de Manila has been put on hold by the Supreme Court because of a petition by the Order of the Knights of Rizal.

 

The Knights of Rizal said DMCI acted in bad faith and violated Manila's zoning ordinance and other laws as well as existing guidelines on monuments. The court has ordered DMCI to answer the petition.

 

DMCI has said that it "firmly believes that cultural heritage and progress can co-exist."

 

In an earlier report, DMCI Homes project development manager Florence Loreto said there are national monuments built amid high-rise buildings in Indonesia, Cuba and China.

 

"Wala po kaming sinira, malayo po kami sa monumento at nasa labas kami ng boundaries ng Rizal Park," Loreto said. — Joel Locsin/JDS, GMA News