To decongest the central business district, the city government has this grand plan of putting up a number of multi-level parking facilities in some public and private properties within the vicinity of the central business district. The rationale is that motorists will park their vehicles thereat then take public transportation or walk to their destination.
One of these projects being aggressively pushed by the city government is the put up of a multi-level parking structure within a portion of the open space of the Manuel L. Quezon Elementary School (MLQES) grounds which actually received overwhelming opposition from concerned stakeholders, especially school and barangay officials, officers of the Parents Teachers Association, environmentalists, ordinary citizens, among others because the said project runs counter to the desire of the city to have more open and green spaces to help in containing the worsening air pollution and allow people to be able to freely move around. In fact, when the idea was ventilated, there was already a strongly worded petition that was sent to the city government stating the opposition of concerned sectors to the idea of putting up a parking building right within the said open space because it will affect the use of the space as an evacuation area, playing venue for various sports activities of the learners, evacuation area during emergencies and more importantly the only available open space for recreation, among others.
The overwhelming opposition showed by the concerned sectors during a recent public consultation that was called to ascertain the pulse of the people on the said project should serve as a wake up call for the city government to heed the call of the public not to push through with the environmentally critical endeavor and instead maintain the open area as such because of its numerous uses. The plight of the people need to be considered in the proposed implementation of such projects like in the said case because those who have been in the area for a number of decades now know and understand the situation more than the self-styled experts.
The city should uphold its previous commitment to the people that its officials will be listening to the plight of the people and will decide on the implementation of projects pursuant to what is socially acceptable.
But more than the opposition of the constituency of the city to such a project, the city authorities, under the principle of good governance, must put the well-being of the future leaders as the ultimate consideration. The authorities seem to have forgotten the children.
We would like to remind them that the Philippines is a State-party to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) of which all instrumentalities of government, including the city government, must uphold. As duty-bearer, the city government is obligated to respect, protect and fulfill the rights of the child under this Convention. It must abide by the principles of non-discrimination, best interests of the child, the right to life, survival and development, and the views of the child. We can confidently state that the city government, even in just considering such an option, has completely violated its obligations to the children of the city, in general, and the children at the Manuel L. Quezon Elementary School, in particular. By putting the interests of motorists over and above that of children, the city government has discriminated against children by showing favour to motorists as its primary consideration in decision-making. Is the city considering the best interest of the child with this decision? Any decision that affects the best interests of children must be a primary consideration in the decisions by courts of law, administrative authorities, legislative bodies and both public and private social-welfare institutions. In this score, the city government has completely failed. As a matter of fact, it has put the lives of children at risk by its failure to put primary consideration to the right to life, survival and development of children.
With the effects of climate change the city is experiencing, the construction of such a structure amidst a children’s space exacerbates this effect – increased temperatures within the area, air and noise pollution, constriction of recreational area, among others, impinging further on the enjoyment of children of their right to environmental protection and a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. The decision of city government to arrogate unto itself for the sake of accommodating vehicles that space at the MLQES has violated the right of the child to life.
Further, has the city government considered the views of the children in making this decision? Children have the right to participate in all decisions affecting them. Are we proud of being in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network claiming we are “driven by a multi-stakeholder desire to sustain the growth of Baguio City, but one that is driven by sustainable and inclusive development engines such as culture and creative industries’? We have absolutely excluded one stakeholder – the children, the ones who will sustain the future growth of the city – by depriving them of their participation in decision-making.
We would like to remind the city government that is has legal obligations under the CRC and it is bound to enforce these, NOT violate the human rights of children. Citizens must continue to protect children and their spaces, and assert for more people’s consultation in coming up with a comprehensive, inclusive and sustainable solution to the city’s urbanisation that will not sacrifice children and the environment. Surely, the city government does not want to be branded as a children’s rights violator.
