DENR takes over Rizal georeserve
THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has ordered a government housing contractor to vacate the 300-hectare site in Rizal — home to the Masungi Georeserve — following the cancellation of its 2002 Supplemental Agreement.
The agency announced the agreement’s cancellation in a letter to Ben Dumaliang, owner of the Blue Star Construction Development Corp.
In the letter, the DENR listed three reasons for the voiding the agreement: 1) the absence of a presidential proclamation declaring the subject matter of the contract for housing purposes, 2) the lack of a document to prove that the proposed construction went through a procurement or bidding process, and 3) the failure to deliver the 5,000-unit Garden Cottages housing project within five years from the signing of the agreement on Nov. 15, 2002.
NOTHING BUT GREEN This photo taken on Dec. 1, 2022, shows a general view of the Masungi Georeserve in Baras, Rizal. In Manila, where more than 13 million people live, low-lying areas are often inundated when storms lash the Sierra Madre mountain range, which lies east of the city and acts as a natural barrier to severe weather. PHOTO BY JAM STA. ROSA/AFP FILE PHOTO
The project was supposed to offer housing for the employees of the DENR, Department of Education (then known as the Department of Education, Culture and Sports), Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of National
