50-year-old law stalling developments in Davao reservation area

A report from BusinessWorld DAVAO CITY — A more than 50-year-old law signed during the administration of President Ramon D. Magsaysay has given the city government headaches as modernity and migration threaten to swamp one of the city’s reservation areas. Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte said he is not inclined to demolish the multimillion-peso "baywalk" behind Queensland Motel in this city’s Matina Aplaya despite an order from the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA). The baywalk gained notoriety after the 39.14-meter giant replica of Michelangelo’s David, in all its naked glory, earned the ire of women’s groups. "It’s already there so in the meantime let’s help everybody secure permits," the mayor said, adding he is not as strict with businessmen without permits as he is against drugs, gunrunning, or criminality. In a letter dated Oct. 23, 2007, the PRA ordered the demolition of the property which sits on a 24-hectare reservation area based on a proclamation issued by Mr. Magsaysay.’ The letter was addressed to the baywalk and Queensland owner Teodorico Adarna, Mr. Duterte, Environment regional director Ricardo Calderon, local Environmental Management Bureau head Meturdio Turbella, Interior regional director Rodolfo Razul, and other local officials. The order prompted the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to prohibit the sale of lands and resettlement in the area subject to private rights. With the order, Mr. Duterte said, all titled lands in the area, including the beach resort owned by former Davao City vice-mayor Luis Bonguyan and the popular Times Beach Resort, are deemed illegal if the documents were issued after May 1954 when Mr. Magsaysay signed the proclamation. "We can’t hope to develop Times Beach in the next 30 years, we already had difficulty sprucing up the People’s Park," he said. In 2005, the city council passed an ordinance for Mr. Adarna to stop development in the area for lack of a foreshore lease agreement, a decision that was upheld by the city legal office. Mr. Adarna offered to donate the project to the city government once it is finished. But even before the authorities could implement the order, the issue died down until the city council revived it in its Jan. 22 regular session. Last month, acting Mayor Sara Duterte ordered a stop to any further development in the area despite pleadings from Queensland counsel Charlie Aldevera, who she described as her "godfather." — Joel B. Escovilla, BusinessWorld