Makati City Mayor Abigail Binay on Wednesday maintained that some barangays currently in Taguig City, including the highly-urbanized area of Bonifacio Global City (BGC), belonged to Makati City.
Binay said Taguig’s connection to the BGC looked like a “tadpole” on a map, implying that the area was geographically surrounded by Makati barangays and was far from Taguig’s center.
“‘Yong Kalayaan (Avenue), Makati po ‘yan, ang Forbes Park, Makati po ‘yan. ‘yong C-5, Makati po ‘yan,” she told reporters at the weekly Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum.
“‘Yong nasa gilid (ng BGC), Makati ‘yon, kaya para siyang butete. Ganun ang itsura if you look (at) it on the map. ‘Yung Taguig, malayo pa,” she added.
Bonifacio Global City. INQUIRER FILE
According to Binay, the only Taguig landmark near BGC is a police camp.
“Taguig only connects to BGC through ‘yong SPD (Southern Police District) camp. The rest of the periphery is all Makati. It was like BGC was carved out to suit the needs of Taguig,” the mayor said.
In 2013, the Makati local government led by then-Mayor Jejomar Binay Jr. revived the dispute on the control of BGC, citing that residents of barangays north and south of the business district voted in Makati.
However, the Court of Appeals (CA) ruled that BGC belonged to Taguig, and junked Makati’s appeal.
READ: Makati mayor sees takeover of Bonifacio Global City in 2 weeks / CA junks Makati appeal in row with Taguig over BGC
According to Binay, they have brought the case to the Supreme Court, saying the CA dismissed their claim on technical issues.
“In the original case with the Court of Appeals, panalo ‘yung Makati. Then they filed a motion to dismiss which was granted by the Court of Appeals. So, we filed a petition in the Supreme Court questioning the motion to dismiss,” she said.
“But based on the merits of the case, sinasabi ng Court of Appeals na: ‘Oo, Makati, sa’yo ‘yan,’” she added.
She also pleaded with the Supreme Court to consider their claim, as it would not only affect BGC but people in the ‘embo’ barangays, namely Cembo, Rembo, Pembo, and Comembo.
“‘Wag n’yo namang i-dismiss based on a technicality, because you have to remember that we are not just talking about BGC. We are talking about other areas other BGC that Taguig is claiming,” Binay noted.
“Kasi po tatandaan ninyo ‘yong unang kampo, Fort Bonifacio even before BCDA (Bases Conversion and Development Authority) […] kasama ‘yong mga ‘embo’ dyan, lahat ho ‘yan. BGC is only occupying a small part of the ‘embo’,” she added. /cbb