Monterrazas: Council blocks Tommy O's stop push

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Warning that the city is playing “Russian roulette” with the lives of its poorest residents, Vice Mayor Tomas Osmeña on Tuesday launched an aggressive bid to freeze a massive upland real estate development.

But despite his fiery appeals, the Cebu City Council’s majority bloc blocked an immediate shutdown of Monterrazas de Cebu. The body opted instead to defer the matter to the Technical Infrastructure Committee (TIC), branding a sudden cease-and-desist order as premature, selective, and legally fragile.

The resulting gridlock was about much more than one hillside project; it unmasked a fundamental ideological rift deep within City Hall. On one side stands a minority bloc demanding immediate, precautionary state intervention to prevent a potential downstream disaster. On the other hand stands a majority insisting that technical data, due process, and strict legal boundaries must dictate the city’s limits.

The flashpoint of the session was Osmeña’s proposed resolution, which urged Mayor Nestor Archival to halt all activities of the Mont Property Group, save for the construction of its critical water catchments, until those safety facilities are fully operational.

READ: Monterrazas project: Osmeña urges Archival to issue cease-and-desist order

‘You’re not 18 percent dead’

Speaking before the council, Osmeña cast the issue not as an opposition to development, but as a stark matter of life and death.

He compared the current situation to “playing Russian roulette,” arguing that while the probability of disaster may appear small, the consequences would prove absolute.

“If it happens, you’re not 18 percent dead. You’re 100 percent dead,” he told fellow council members.

To illustrate his point, Osmeña repeatedly invoked the deadly Binaliw landslide, arguing that even highly regarded engineering firms can make catastrophic mistakes.

He questioned assurances that Monterrazas’ detention ponds could withstand future extreme weather events, pointing to previous overflows as proof of vulnerability, and warned that no one could confidently predict the fallout from a typhoon as strong as Ruping.

READ: The Monterrazas de Cebu chronicles

“We are playing with people’s lives,” he said.

Osmeña also challenged what he described as an overreliance on engineering projections, arguing that developers should first complete flood control structures and prove their effectiveness under severe weather conditions before continuing large-scale earth-moving activities.

He stressed that he did not oppose hillside development itself.

“I think it’s wonderful,” he said, before adding that the danger lies in allowing construction to continue before sufficient safeguards have proven effective.

‘Like flushing the toilet’

The bedrock of Osmeña’s argument was his long-held theory that urban development drastically accelerates water runoff, regardless of whether rainfall volumes remain the same.

He argued that roads, rooftops, and drainage systems rapidly channel rainwater downhill, creating sudden surges that natural landscapes would otherwise slow.

“It’s not the amount. It’s the suddenness,” he argued, comparing developed drainage systems to “flushing the toilet.”

READ: Osmeña on stopping Monterrazas: People at risk have no voice

He cited what he described as historical examples in Cebu City, claiming that development in Cebu Business Park partly led to flooding in Mabolo while that in Maria Luisa affected Banilad, and the Alta Vista estate contributed to flooding in Pardo just as runoff from Lahug ultimately worsened floods in Colon.

“The poor don’t have influencers. They don’t have a PR firm. They don’t have lawyers to defend them. They don’t have a voice,” he said. “That’s why I’m going to be their voice.”

He warned that government officials could ultimately bear responsibility if another fatal disaster occurs despite existing warnings.

Majority: Don’t act without legal basis

The council’s majority bloc countered with a markedly different position. The councilors emphasized regulatory compliance, technical findings, and procedural safeguards rather than worst-case scenarios.

Councilor Winston Pepito noted that Monterrazas had already answered extensive questions during an executive session, including issues involving water catchments.

He warned against creating the impression that the council had singled out one developer or adopted a stance against a business though it satisfied applicable requirements.

Pepito instead moved to refer the matter to the Technical Infrastructure Committee for further study and recommendation.

Majority Floor Leader Dave Tumulak likewise pointed to findings from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Environmental Management Bureau (DENR-EMB), which attributed flooding primarily to systemic drainage issues rather than the Monterrazas project and had already validated compliance before lifting an earlier suspension.

Given those findings, he argued that urging a cease-and-desist order could prove premature and potentially contradict national regulatory authorities while undermining ongoing technical interventions.

Councilor Mikel Rama pushed the legal argument further.

Although acknowledging that public safety remains paramount, Rama argued that the mayor would have no sufficient legal justification to issue such an order based solely on the council’s recommendation and warned that passing the resolution would place “undue pressure” on the executive branch.

He instead proposed reframing the measure into one encouraging proactive coordination between the mayor and the developer to verify the effectiveness of submitted flood-mitigation plans rather than seeking an outright shutdown.

Minority presses precautionary approach

Minority members nevertheless maintained that requesting executive action carried little downside given the potential consequences.

Councilor Paul Labra stressed that the proposed resolution merely urged the mayor to act and did not compel him to issue a cease-and-desist order.

Councilor Harold Go likewise argued that while Cebu City should remain business-friendly, protecting lives should take precedence over economic considerations.

“The business can be earned, but life, once it’s gone, can’t be returned,” he argued.

Minority Floor Leader Sisinio Andales invoked the principle that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” under which he argued that the government should not wait for tragedy before acting.

Councilor Alvin Arcilla also questioned aspects of the existing drainage arrangements and recalled earlier commitments involving additional drainage improvements for affected downstream communities.

Matter returns to TIC

By the end of debates, the council carried the motion handing the issue to the Technical Infrastructure Committee for further study and recommendation.

Rama also floated a compromise proposal asking the Office of the Mayor to proactively coordinate with developers and concerned barangays to verify the technical effectiveness of submitted flood control measures while encouraging a voluntary temporary pause in further development pending official assessment.

READ: Villa del Rio Cebu flooding: We never learned Ondoy’s lesson

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