Quezon City has always been a pioneer in giving its residents a cleaner and greener place to live in.
In 2009, the QC government passed its “green building” ordinance, which requires the design, construction, or retrofitting of building, other structures and movable properties to meet minimum standards of a green infrastructure.
But how do we know if a building is “green” in the true sense?
There are a number of green building rating systems worldwide which provide for a third-party certification, monitoring and verification system.
The rating system LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design developed by the US Green Building Council which started in 1998 and has been applied to more than 7,000 projects in the US and 30 other countries is considered as the most widely adopted and prestigious, if not the most expensive and most difficult to attain.
To have LEED certification is therefore something that every developer aspires.
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The planned Green School by the Multiple Intelligence International School (MIIS) in Quezon City, therefore, comes as a big boost to the city’s green building initiative.
This pioneering project will be the first-ever LEED-certified educational institution in the Philippines. It carries a green, sustainable design that ensures minimal carbon footprint while, at the same time, promoting the protection of the ecosystem.
It employs an innovative wastewater technology and water management facility that features a network of water collection facilities, such as rain gardens, underground storm water storage, and permeable walkways, among others.
The development also acts as a barrier to noise and air pollution through a network of ventilation systems (wind catchers) and cooling technologies that filter polluted air from Katipunan Avenue and distribute fresh air to the campus and surrounding areas.
To ensure the efficient flow of human and vehicle traffic in the area, the MIIS Green School will also be equipped with a world-class traffic management system similar to those used in many developed countries. This includes the use of multi-level floors for drop off, pick up, and parking purposes, as well as internal campus roads that promote smooth traffic flow and parking facilities that exceed National Building Code requirements.
What’s great about this school too is that it aims to inculcate in its students a genuine concern for the environment. By empowering children to become sustainability officers in their classrooms, in their homes and in their communities, the MIIS Green School helps develop greater awareness of the environmental realities that need our immediate attention.
Let us hope that the Blue Ridge A Resident Association (BRARA) which is opposing the construction of the school on the grounds that it will create additional traffic in the area, (an issue which has already been addressed by the school’s master plan), realizes that it should not be a hindrance to, but should instead push for such a noteworthy project.
Sacrificial lamb
Many were surprised by the inclusion of former Muntinlupa solon and now Customs commissioner Ruffy Biazon in the list of legislators who were charged by the Justice department for their alleged involvement in the multi-billion-peso pork barrel scandal involving Janet Lim Napoles.
For one, the P2 million allocated to his former office which Biazon is being asked to account for is miniscule compared to the amounts involved in the Napoles scam. Secondly, even the so-called whistleblowers in the Napoles case have admitted in their affidavits that they have never had any direct dealings with Biazon, but only with someone who claimed he represented Biazon.
Is the Aquino administration so desperate to the point of sacrificing one of its own just to show that investigations involving Napoles and the PDAF scam are not politically motivated?
But why choose Biazon when bigger names have been brought up as having had shady dealings with Napoles?
Is it because Biazon has made a lot of enemies even within the administration for his crusade against smugglers and the wide-ranging reforms he has initiated at the BOC, like sending some influential deadbeats in the bureau to limbo?
Is it because Biazon clearly enjoys the trust of President Aquino and including him in the DOJ charge sheet would tend to show that no one – not even allies of PNoy – are being spared?
Anyway, Biazon has said that he welcomes the opportunity to answer the charges whether before the Ombudsman or the Sandiganbayan and that accounting for public funds comes with the territory of serving in government, whether it be at the lowest levels of local government or at the highest levels of national office.
What I know is Biazon had the delicadeza to offer his resignation when his integrity as Customs bureau chief was put into question.
We need more public servants like him.
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