Bonifacio Global City

History

During the American colonial period, the US government acquired a 25.78 square kilometre property within what was then disputed area between Makati, Taguig and Pateros for military purposes. This area (TCT dated 1902) was turned into a camp then known as Fort William McKinley after the 25th US president, William McKinley. After the Philippines gained its political independence from the United States on July 4, 1946, the US bestowed to the Republic of the Philippines all rights of possession, jurisdiction, supervision and control over the Philippine territory except the use of their military bases. On May 14, 1949, Fort McKinley was turned over to the Philippine government by virtue of US Embassy Note No. 0570.

Under the AFP leadership of Gen. Alfonso Arellano, Fort McKinley was made the permanent headquarters of the Philippine Army in 1957 and was subsequently renamed Fort Bonifacio, after the Father of the Philippine Revolution against Spain, Andres Bonifacio, whose father, Santiago Bonifacio, was a native of Taguig, Rizal. Fort Bonifacio, during the Spanish Era, Taguig was founded in the year 1587, while San Pedro de Macati in 1670 in what was part of Sta. Ana Manila and Pateros in 1770, a bario and part of Pasig during the Spanish era.

On December 9, 1937 the Deed of Absolute sale executed by the owner, Don Anacleto Madrigal Acopiado in favor of the American Government covering the area of 100 hectares, portion of Bicutan, Taguig, annotated at the back of TCT No. 408. During the American Commonwealth, it was converted to a Military base, named Fort McKinley. It was during the presidency of the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos' administration when Fort Mckinley was renamed Fort Bonifacio and transferred to Makati. Taguig got the jurisdiction over Fort Bonifacio after winning the case against Makati in filed in the Pasig Regional Trial Court in 1993. Makati appealed the ruling, but the Pasig RTC in 2011 still sided with Taguig, saying that Fort Bonifacio including the -EMBO Baranggays are all part of Taguig. Makati then asked the Court of Appeals to review the case. The Court of Appeals overturned the Pasig Regional Trial Court's decision and reverted jurisdiction of the BGC in favor of Makati. As of date, Taguig has filed a Motion of Reconsideration at the Court of Appeals seeking to revert the decision. Status quo (meaning the latest ruling) remains with Makati. Taguig currently has de facto control over the area.

In 1995, Bonifacio Land Development Corporation, a consortium led by Metro Pacific, made a successful bid to become BCDA's partner in the development of Bonifacio Global City (BGC), the Home of Passionate Minds. Ayala Land, Inc. and Evergreen Holdings, Inc. of the Campos Group purchased a controlling stake in BLDC from Metro Pacific in 2003. BCDA and the two companies control Fort Bonifacio Development Corporation, which oversees the master planning of Bonifacio Global City. The Bonifacio Global City is a rich district with a high number of skyscrapers, even as the city is still rising. Many skyscrapers are under construction and will be built in future.

Description

Bonifacio Global City is between EDSA and C-5 Road. There are seven major access points: access from the North and West through Kalayaan Avenue which connects it to the North Gate and the Kalayaan Flyover, access from Taguig in the West via EDSA through McKinley Road and to the McKinley Gate; the three main entrances (Upper East Gate, Sampaguita Gate, and Lower East Gate) from C-5 highway in the East; and from the airport through the Villamor Airbase to the South Gate by Fifth Avenue and Lawton Avenue.

BGC is home to residential condominiums such as 8 Forbes Town Road, Bellagio, Essensa, Serendra, Pacific Plaza Towers, One McKinley Place, The Luxe Residences, Bonifacio Ridge Twin Towers, and Regent Parkway and corporate office buildings such as Net One and Bonifacio Technology Center. Many Filipino and multinational corporations have acquired properties and have committed to relocate their global, regional or national headquarters in the business district.

Bonifacio High Street

The Bonifacio High Street forms the physical core of the Bonifacio Global City and is essentially designed as a three-by-three matrix of high-tech offices and residential buildings, retail outlets and pedestrian-friendly roads and walkways. The grid approach ensures a city center that is easy to navigate. The 5th and 11th Avenues and 32nd and 26th Streets serve as the boundaries of the city center.

The Retail Promenade which encompasses the 29th Street is characterized by landscaped areas. Its design concept is centered on an east-west central access with business establishments and activity pods. It offers retail at the ground level and offices at the second floor. The City Square Blocks feature landscaped areas and parks.

North Bonifacio

The P20-billion tower was estimated to start construction by late 2008, by Federal Land, Inc. (led by its president Alfred Ty), on a 27-hectare North Bonifacio district lot (jointly owned by the Metrobank Group of Companies and the Bases Conversion Development Authority). The tower is the 65-storey Grand Hyatt Manila which currently is one of the tallest skyscrapers in Metro Manila, beside that is the Grand Hyatt Manila Residences.

Forbes Town Center

The Forbes Town Center is Megaworld's 5-hectare township community, where 8 Forbestown Road, Forbeswood Heights, Forbeswood Parklane and Bellagio condominiums are. It has a combination of low density residential development, shopping strip, dining outlets, and other service facilities.

Uptown Bonifacio

Uptown Bonifacio is a new 15-hectare property located in the northern district of Fort Bonifacio. Megaworld Corporation plans to build new residential condominiums and mixed-use business and commercial developments in the area that cater to upper to middle class markets. The area is near the zone where the British, Japanese, and American international schools, and other local schools are located.

McKinley Hill

Among Megaworld's development projects in Metro Manila, the 50-hectare McKinley Hill is by far the biggest. Situated in Fort Bonifacio in Barangay Pinagsama under Taguig, McKinley Hill has over 4,713 condominium units in 34 residential condominium buildings, 482 residential lots, and close to 300,000 square meters of office space spread across 17 offices.

There are three international schools, which are the Chinese International School Manila, the first English-Mandarin bilingual school in the country; the management school Enderun Colleges, which is partnered with Les Roches International School of Hotel Management in Switzerland, Alain Ducasse Education in France and Thunderbird School of Global Management in the United States; and the Korean International School Philippines, the first in the country.

Mckinley West

McKinley West is a 34.5-hectare township by Megaworld.

Heritage Park

Heritage Park was developed by BCDA. It is a 76-hectare high-value, multi-use memorial park designed with landmarks and equipped with interment services, crematory and other facilities. The park opened in the first quarter of 2001. Heritage Park is located along Bayani Road. It is between Libingan ng mga Bayani and The Manila American Cemetery and Memorial.

Historical sites

The Fort Bonifacio Tunnel (Bonifacio War Tunnel) is a tunnel in Bonifacio Global City, a district of Metro Manila, Philippines. It is considered to be a historical site by the Bases Conversion Development Authority. It is situated at the property of former military base Fort Bonifacio and now called Bonifacio Global City. It has since become hidden underneath the streets that traverse C-5 and Kalayaan Avenue. The Libingan ng mga Bayani (Heroes' Cemetery) is a memorial ground housing 33,520 Filipino soldiers killed in Bataan, Corregidor and other battlefields in World War II. Presidents of the Philippines, national artists and other Filipinos deemed honorable are also buried here. The Vietnam War Memorial and Korean War Memorial are located in the Libingan ng mga Bayani. The Manila American Cemetery and Memorial is on a prominent plateau in the limits of Fort Bonifacio. It contains the largest number of graves (17,206) of American soldiers who fought in World War II. Most of the soldiers buried at the American Cemetery lost their lives in operations in New Guinea and the Philippines.

Health and education

St. Luke's Medical Center, Inc. operates a hospital at the Bonifacio Global City.

Leaders International Christian School of Manila, British School Manila, International School Manila, Manila Japanese School, Korean International School Philippines, Everest Academy Manila, STI College, and MGC-New Life Christian Academy - Global City are all in the University Parkway of Bonifacio Global City. Other educational institutions in the area include the Global City Innovative College, and the Every Nation Leadership Institute.

Fort Bonifacio dispute

The city governments of Makati and Taguig have recently fought over the jurisdiction of Fort Bonifacio because of the area's growth potential. A portion of the base, including the Libingan ng mga Bayani and the American Cemetery, lies within Taguig, while the northern portion where the Global City development is centered was considered part of Taguig. A 2003 ruling by a judge in the Pasig Regional Trial Court upheld the jurisdiction of Taguig over the entirety of Fort Bonifacio, including the Bonifacio Global City.

Ruling

The Supreme Court on June 27, 2008 per Leonardo Quisumbing, dismissed the suit of the Makati City, seeking to nullify Special Patents 3595 and 3596 signed by Fidel Ramos conveying to the Bases Conversion and Development Authority public land in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City. Due to a pending civil case filed by the Taguig City government asking the court to define its territorial boundaries, Makati cannot halt Taguig from collecting taxes on land located in Fort Bonifacio because it does not have any other sufficient source of sufficient income.

Pateros Fort Bonifacio Reclaim

The municipality of Pateros, the only municipality in Metro Manila and located near Fort Bonifacio, claims that its original land area was not its present land area of 2.10 km² but 1,040 hectares (10.4 km²) including Fort Bonifacio, particularly Barangays Comembo, Pembo, East Rembo, West Rembo, Cembo, South Cembo and Pitogo which are now part of Makati City and Bonifacio Global City which was made part of Taguig, based on documents and official maps obtained from some libraries and offices including USA Library of Congress and USA Archives. ("Susi ng Pateros Newsletter", 2000)

Pateros' decrease in territory was accounted to a cadastral mapping in Metro Manila conducted in 1978. The late Pateros Mayor Nestor Ponce challenged the map through an objection letter dated June 23, 1978. In January 1986, former President Ferdinand Marcos issued Proclamation No. 2475 which stated that Fort Bonifacio is in Makati and it's open for disposition. Because of that, a boundary dispute arose which moved Pateros to request a dialogue about that with then Municipal Council of Makati in 1990. Pateros also filed a complaint against Taguig at the Makati RTC in 1996 but the trial court dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction. The case was moved to the Court of Appeals in 2003, but was denied. The same case was moved to the Supreme Court in 2009, and it was denied again.

Supreme Court Decision

The Supreme Court, on June 16, 2009, per Antonio Eduardo B. Nachura denied Pateros’ petition against Taguig but ruled out that the boundary dispute should be settled amicably by their respective legislative bodies based on Section 118(d) of the Local Government Code. Pursuant to the decision, Pateros invited Taguig to a council-to-council dialogue on October 8, 2009. Four meetings were held and at the fourth dialogue on November 23, 2009, a joint resolution was made stating that Taguig is requesting a tripartite conference between Pateros, Taguig and Makati.

Court of Appeals Decision

On August 5, 2013, after just a year and a half, the 20-year-long battle was decided in a 37-page decision that was written by Justice Marlene Gonzales-Sison of the Court of Appeals. It says that jurisdiction over Fort Bonifacio has reverted to Makati City from Taguig. The Court upheld the constitutionality of Presidential Proclamations 2475 and 518, both of which confirmed that portions of the aforementioned military camps are under the jurisdiction of Makati City. The decision also cited the fact that voters from the barangays that are subject of the dispute between Makati City and Taguig have long been registered as voters of Makati City, thus bolstering the former's jurisdiction over Fort Bonifacio. However, Taguig Mayor Lani Cayetano maintained that this decision is not yet final and executory, and has asked Justice Gonzales-Sison to inhibit from the case as it was discovered that her family has close ties with the Binays of Makati.

Status quo remains

On August 22, 2013, the Taguig city government filed a Motion for Reconsideration before the Court of Appeals's Sixth Division affirming its claim on Fort Bonifacio. With the filing of the said Motion for Reconsideration, Taguig's jurisdiction forces itself over Fort Bonifacio. According to Taguig's legal department, jurisprudence and the rules of procedure in the country's justice system all say that the filing of a motion for reconsideration suspends the execution of a decision and puts it in limbo.

Supreme Court's 2nd Decision

On August 1, 2016, in a 27-page decision by the Second Division of the Supreme Court, the decision sought Makati government found guilty of direct contempt for abusing the legal processes over the jurisdiction of BGC.