The Supreme Court on Tuesday junked the petition that sought to demolish the controversial Torre de Manila condominium in Manila, allowing its construction to resume.
Voting 9-6, the high court threw out the plea that the Knights of Rizal filed against the high-rise in September 2014, calling the project a
“sore thumb” that would ruin the sight line of the Rizal Monument, a national landmark.
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The court also lifted the temporary restraining order it had issued in June 2015 halting construction of the 49-story building on Taft Avenue, a DM Consunji Inc. project.
The high court dismissed the petition “for the reasons that: (1) the Court has no jurisdiction over the subject matter; (2) the petitioners have no standing to sue; and (3) they stand to suffer no injury,” said Supreme Court spokesperson Theodore Te.
“Furthermore, the Court also found that there is no law that prohibits the construction of the challenged Torre de Manila,” he said in a briefing.
In its petition, the Knights had argued that the building “would forever ruin the sightline of the Rizal Monument in Luneta Park.”
“Torre De Manila building would loom at the back and overshadow the entire monument, whether up close or viewed from a distance…Moreover, the importance of the landmark that is the monument will be devalued,” the Knights had said in its petition.
This story first appeared on ABS-CBN News and is re-published with permission
