Engineer and television personality Slater Young is again the central figure in a public backlash after netizens revisited concerns and long-term effects of the former’s controversial hillside development project, “The Rise at Monterrazas.”
After Typhoon Tino pounded the province of Cebu and left several communities submerged, Young’s upland project was thrust into public backlash anew, with netizens calling out its potential environmental impacts.
According to critics, the large-scale construction on Cebu’s mountain slopes significantly affected the area’s ability to absorb rainwater, triggering landslides and flooding. Two years ago, the project was made public by Young through a YouTube video, promoting it as a residential complex inspired by the Banaue Rice Terraces.
It is located along the slopes of Barangay Guadalupe, one of the areas that were significantly affected by the flooding.
“It never floods in Guadalupe. But when Monterrazas started construction in 2007, it slowly started flooding already, and just this week, super lala ang baha,” one netizen wrote.
“Hi Slater Young and everyone behind Monterrazas, How can you live with the weight of knowing your project has caused deaths and destroyed so many lives? Do you ever feel even a trace of guilt, or has greed already taken over your conscience?” another user wrote, adding the hashtag, Freedom for Cebu.
Meanwhile, a Facebook user shared that they prepared for Typhoon Tino, but failed to consider Monterazzas De Cebu’s sudden water flow.
“Who would have thought we’d be swimming in mocha-colored waters (aka anapog) from them when they said they had the best standard flood control in their area, right?” the caption read.
“Just in their area. Never in the community below them,” it added.
‘Working with nature’
When Young first revealed the project, he said that they wanted it to be architecturally forward, but also sustainable. When they first laid out the plan, the residential complex looked like it was a normal condo unit with high-rise buildings. However, Young pointed out that it looked “very congested.”
“Hindi siya bagay to be on the mountainside. It doesn't belong there, talaga. Nag step back nanaman ulit kami, and we kind of got inspired by working with nature,” he explained.
“The biggest inspiration for us was how us Filipinos worked with nature in the past. We got inspired by the Banaue Rice Terraces. Instead of a normal building, which is typically straight up and down, we worked with the terrain,” he added.
With this, the whole structure was spread out across the mountain. Moreover, they also installed one hectare of green strip along the balconies of every unit for residents’ privacy and as a way to “give back to the mountain.”
“Speaking of greenery and sustainability, this was something that’s very smart that was done by one of our consultants. This would actually be very, very expensive to maintain, to water. We actually designed The Rise to have an irrigation system similar to those in mga farms,” Young explained.
“This entire building will be collecting all the rainwater to a tank down below and then mayroon tayong irrigation system. It’s a drip irrigation system that makes it the entire strip of garden in front of you, virtually, maintenance-free,” he added.
Despite the backlash Young is receiving, one user questioned whether the blame that Young is receiving for the Monterazzas is a “perfect scapegoat” for the flooding in Cebu.
“To blame all this flooding to the Monterrazas of Slater Young is the perfect scapegoat the Govt wants you to think,” a user tweeted.
“Those TikTok videos stitching the project with the flooded areas that are even municipalities away is deception and strays away the accountability from the Government,” it added.
According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), the death toll from Typhoon Tino rose to 188, with 135 people still missing, and 96 others injured.
The government had also declared a state of national calamity, following President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s approval of the NDRRMC’s recommendation on Thursday, November 6.
