New QC school will bring more traffic, pollution

Residents of Blue Ridge A are up in arms over the planned construction of Multiple Intelligence International School at the corner of Highland Drive and Katipunan Avenue (Blue Ridge A, Quezon City). It is a K to 12 school with 12 levels and a current population of 800 students. The proposed building can accommodate 1,500 students and has parking slots for only 70 cars.

Residents of this peaceful village, developed in the 1950s and one of the few remaining bird sanctuaries in our busy city, are concerned about:

1. Increased traffic in the already congested area. Traffic during rush hour is already very slow, with the end extending to Eastwood on C-5, or White Plains Avenue or Bonny Serrano. Increasing the volume of vehicles, most of which will stop to let off or fetch students, will affect not only Katipunan Avenue but C-5, Katipunan in the St. Ignatius and White Plains area and Bonny Serrano. There will also be an increase in the volume of vehicles making a U-turn near the Sta. Clara Church under the Katipunan flyover, which will then affect the vehicles going further north to Loyola Heights.

2. The effect on the community’s ecological system. A massive four-story, three-basement building will affect the ecological balance in the area in terms of water supply, waste management and an increase in pollution brought about by the increase in vehicle volume.

3. The safety factor. The building will be sitting on a ridge near a fault line. The demolition of the old structure already began early in October without a demolition permit from City Hall and was stopped when residents complained they were not consulted. Residents were surprised to know there was no demolition plan, yet the property is on a ridge and the recent monsoons and typhoons could pose serious soil erosion risks.

4. Disruption of the peaceful way of life of the community. The school capacity is nearly equal to the population of the village. Residents fear they will exhaust basic utilities and overburden the current sewage system.

5. The zoning issue. The Quezon City government rezoned the area into a Special Urban Development Zone (Lot deep, East Side, Katipunan Avenue from P. Tuazon Street to Bonny Serrano) which specifically prohibits additional schools (QC Ordinance No. SP-2200, S-2013, pages 79 and 116, signed by Mayor Herbert Bautista on March 25, 2013).

—SONIA S. MENDOZA, resident of Blue Ridge A, chair, Mother Earth Foundation, sonia.mef@gmail.com