After almost two years of delay, the developers of the 49-story residential condominium project known as Torre de Manila can now resume construction after the Supreme Court (SC) lifted its temporary restraining order (TRO) issued on June 16, 2015.
In a decision issued in Baguio City, the SC ruled that “there is no law that prohibits the construction of the challenged Torre de Manila.”
It dismissed the petition filed by the Order of the Knights of Rizal (OKR) against DMCI Homes, Inc. and DMCI Project Developers, Inc., City of Manila, National Commission on Culture and the Arts, National Museum, and National Historical Commission of the Philippines.
The decision, written by Senior Justice Antonio T. Carpio, lifted the TRO.
The SC also ruled that it “has no jurisdiction over the subject matter, the petitioners have no standing to sue, and they (petitioners) stand to suffer no injury.”
“As a consequence of the judgment rendered, the TRO issued by the Court is lifted,” the SC’s public information office (PIO) said in a briefing.
The lifting of the TRO means that the developers of Torre de Manila can now proceed with the construction of the condominium building.
Those who concurred in the decision were Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P. A. Sereno and Justices Presbitero J. Velasco Jr., Lucas Bersamin, Mariano del Castillo, Bienvenido Reyes Jr., Estela Perlas Bernabe, Marvic Mario Victor Leonen, and Noel Tijam.
The dissenters were Justices Teresita Leonardo de Castro, Diosdado Peralta, Jose Catral Mendoza, Francis Jardeleza, Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa, and Samuel Martires.
A copy of the decision was not immediately available.
In its petition filed in September 2014, OKR claimed that Torre de Manila would ruin the sightline of the Rizal Monument in Luneta Park.
It did not only ask the issuance of a TRO. It pleaded the SC to order the demolition of the building under construction. (REY PANALIGAN)