DMCI slams ‘trick shots’ showing Torre de Manila as ‘photobomber’

DMCI Homes, the company behind the controversial Torre de Manila project, has dismissed the photos showing the condominium dominating the background of the Rizal Monument as products of "trick shots."

During the resumption of oral arguments at the Supreme Court on Tuesday, DMCI lawyer Victor Lazatin said they tried taking photographs near the monument and they got photos far more different from those posted and circulated online by netizens.

"We took photos from the point of view of an average visitor and compared to those in social media. Using a normal camera, it is still possible to show the monument without Torre de Manila. Rizal monument still towers over," said Lazatin.

The lawyer said the pictures showing the 49-storey structure "photobombing" the Rizal Monument were "trick shots that used photo lenses that distort the truth."

Lazatin stressed that the Torre de Manila is located "well to the rear of the monument [and] cannot possibly distract view of said monument."

He added the internationally accepted solution to protect cultural sites was to create a special law designating a buffer zone and not by judicial discretion.

However, Lazatin insisted that a board meeting of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines in October 2012 declared that no such buffer zone had been delineated in Luneta where the monument is located.

"No penalty, with more reason, no penalty of demolition can be imposed by way of mandmaus, there being no clear right and obligation of ministerial duty to protect the vista or background," he said. —KBK, GMA News