Alvarez vows to block CCM project at Mehan

Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Heherson Alvarez vowed yesterday to block the continuation of the construction of the City College of Manila in historical Mehan Gardens in Manila, indicating that another word war between the DENR chief and Manila officials looms.

Alvarez made the statement in reaction to Manila’s Legal Officer Melchor Monsod who said that the city government will push through with the construction of the City College of Manila in Mehan Gardens.

Meanwhile, some 4,000 students of the City College of Manila staged a protest rally beside the City Hall to press for the immediate construction of the new campus in Mehan Gardens.

Holding placards and streamers with slogans like CCM sa Mehan (Gardens) and CCM needs the Mehan Gardens, the students marched from CCM in Escolta, Binondo to the City Hall. "We have waited long enough, we want a new campus. We are demanding the construction of the new campus at Mehan Garden," said Hiro Masuda, president of the CCM Student Government. "We are still stuck in our present location and face ever increasing risks to our safety. The building we are using right now was not designed to be school, it is old and literally disintegrating," the students said in a statement.

Alvarez said that the National Historical Institute (NHI) together with the National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCAA) are ready to face the Manila City officials in court. "The NHI and the NCAA are ready to stop the Manila City government by filing the appropriate charges against them and we, at the DENR, will gladly join them in charging the city government of Manila," Alvarez said.

Earlier, Monsod said that the use of a property in Intramuros for the construction of the City College of Manila has been junked by the Intramuros Administration (IA).

An estimated 6,000 CCM students are housed at the old building of the Philippine National Bank (PNB), which they described as a firetrap with elevators frequently malfunctioning.

The students noted that school officials were forced to install a net at the entrance to protect them from plaster and masonry falling off the building facade.

The city government of Manila, under Mayor Lito Atienza planned to relocate CCM at the Mehan Gardens but conservationists said the gardens should not be "touched" because of its historical value.

The groups suggested to Atienza a portion of Intramuros as an alternative site, which according to them is more suitable since it was the location of the old Ateneo de Manila, where national hero Jose Rizal graduated. – Jose Rodel Clapano and Cecille Suerte Felipe