WHEN CONSTRUCTION COMPANIES ATTEMPT TO REACH THE SKIES

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE OFFICERS AND MEMBERS OF

THE PHILIPPINE CONSTRUCTION ASSOCIATION OF THE PHILIPPINES

Also for Perusal and Consideration of Architectural Firms, Environmental Groups, Senior Citizen Offices, Hospitals and Other Institutions as well as Organizations That Aspire for a Peaceful and Quiet Country

For about a year now, I have suffered greatly from the construction activities of one of your members. In my first complaint, because I suffered from asthma as their workers conducted cementing at our driveway, they paid me P30,000,00. In the succeeding anti-environmetalTO activities – noise and air pollution, they have not paid a single centavo and even considered me an enemy of the construction business. What are considered environmental problems and sins have been turned into anti-business complaints simply because their operations have been hampered. The noise polluting activities include: working beyond and above the permitted hours of operations. Instead of 8 o'clock in the morning, they would start at 7 a.m. Instead of ending at 6 p.m. They have asked for extended hours until 10 p.m. And work even beyond that up to almost midnight, despite the calls to the Barangay Tanod to stop them.

So what are the sins of this company against the peace and order in our barangay, which is actually residential but has been turned into semi-residential  and the heights of buildings from 4 to 7 storeys, officially without open public consultations?

1. The noise pollution affects the sleeping habits of the residents, especially of the sick and the elderlies. In our house, which is beside the lot where currently, construction activities are going on, there are two elderlies, one is sick with respiratory disease. The other is a middle aged man who has to sleep early and wake up to go to his job at SMX-MOA daily; and myself, an asthmatic and recently had a bout with heart condition as well;
2. The nature of noise polluting activities include:

a. concrete mixers which arrive at unholy hours and continue churning out cement mixing for about five hours;

b. hammering, pounding, throwing of steel bars here and there, creating fire-cracker sounds like those heard during New Year's day and causing nerve-wracking pricks into our bodies;

c.workers used to shout here and there but recently have quieted down;

3. The nature of air-polluting activities include:

a. concrete mixers and their trucks emitting carbon monoxide that penetrate our house;

b. cement powder which above I have mentioned caused me to develop asthma;

Letter a is the worst because we cannot find any space in our house where we could breathe fresh air. The pollutant just blows over the interiors of our house;

4. Why the height is such a great liability:

a. it has dimmed the light in the surrounding areas;

b. the skies can no longer be viewed right away by the residents as they walk through the streets of the barangay;

c. the circulation of air has been limited by the heights of the buildings. Some tall buildings do not cover much the wind from circulating in the area because they are located beside the creek. But those within the barangay truly block the circulation of air; and

d. due to the limited circulation of air, breathing in and out becomes difficult, too. Respiratory illnesses and heart conditions could easily be developed because of that.

Hence, I am citing the above to ask if you have an ethical code of conduct for your members. I complained to the head of the particular construction company mentioned above but his reaction was downright insolent and arrogant. Deep inside I think he believes that everything can be bought with money.

When he gave the P30,000, it was for my medicines and my upkeep. Then he gave an additional P30,000 for my other relatives. However, he said that the first P30,000 was just for me. Now, he had told my other relatives that that was for everybody and now I am being made to account for that P30,000. Do you see the duplicity of his acts? He also told me

as I had refused to sign the papers without writing down my name and adding “with reservations” that the document was only internal to his company. But now it appears that he has bandied it around to destroy my reputation and to cite that I am not that idealistic after all. Now what kind of an ethical conduct is that?

By the way, he was the one who gave me the name of your association. When I tried looking up your name in the telephone directory, it was nowhere to be found. And so I am writing this open letter to you so that this company would at least be humane and considerate to:

1. Operate only from 8 a.m. To 6 p.m. And that any hammering, pounding and all noisy activities should be done between those hours, and not beyond. By the way, I have woken up on a several Sunday mornings which I value very much for meditation and praying with the noise from their activities penetrating all over the house, thus making me lose concentration;
2. Stop operations every Sunday as it is a day of rest for everyone; If the owner does not belong to our religion, then he should at least respect our right to worship peacefully on that day;
3. Stop operations after 6 pm. and observe it faithfully;
4. Hammering and pounding should not be continuous. Every two hours, there should be a thirty-minute recess in order to relieve the people around of the tensions and stresses they cause;
5. Please tell your members to desist from building beyond 5 storeys here in MetroManila, especially at residential, semi-residential areas as they are changing the emotional atmosphere here. We are being made to suffer the stressful looks of high-rise builldings for the sake of the profiteering motives of owners; and
6. Kindly tell your members to have ethical relationships with those who will be affected by their construction actities; and should they have violations, volunteer to pay us for the inconvenience we have suffered ungrudgingly. They should respect our right to peace and order in our areas of residence.

I hope that with this letter, we could have a peaceful life, even if the ambition of this construction company above is to build an edifice that should reach the skies. How ironic because I am sure the heavenly beings would not even bless their attempt to come up as this has been done at the expense of stepping on the human rights of people for a decent, humane, peaceful and secure life.

Hoping for your immediate, conscientious and sincere attention on the points I have raised, and for your disciplining your members and/or training them on the value of ethical practice of their business, I remain

Sincerely yours,

WILHELMINA S. OROZCO

Resident

“I have omitted the particular names of the construction company and its official, in order to respect their desire to continue their business without any taint of malpractice.