OWNERSHIP CLAIMS | Students pass by Fort Bonifacio Elementary School, which Makati City claims it owns. (File photo by MARIANNE BERMUDEZ / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
MANILA, Philippines — Rep. Rodolfo Ordanes of the Senior Citizens party-list group is urging Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos to create a transition committee to implement the Supreme Court ruling to transfer the jurisdiction of 10 barangays from Makati to Taguig.
In a statement issued on Monday, Ordanes, who chairs the House Special Committee on Senior Citizens, noted that there were several concerns about social welfare benefits, aid programs, local governance, and peace and order that would need a smooth turnover between the two cities.
The 10 barangays that were transferred from Makati to Taguig are Pembo, Comembo, Cembo, South Cembo, West Rembo, East Rembo, Pitogo, Rizal, Northside, and Southside.
Last Dec. 1, 2022, the Supreme Court Third Division ruled to uphold the 2011 decision of the Pasig Regional Trial Court (RTC) confirming the Fort Bonifacio military reservation to be a part of Taguig.
Ordanes suggested that the transition team should be led by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
He also noted that the following agencies could also help the team “sort out the many details of the transition”:
- Department of Social Welfare and Development
- Department of Budget and Management
- Department of Finance
- Department of Health
- Philippine National Police
- Civil Service Commission
- Commission on Audit
- Metropolitan Manila Development Authority
- Philippine Health Insurance Corp.
- Bases Conversion and Development Authority
Ordanes said he expected a “continuation and smooth transition” of statutory benefits from laws like the Centenarians Act and Senior Citizens Act, and aid programs such as the social pension for indigent elderly, Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, Aid to Individuals in Crisis Situations and cash for work.
“However, the aid programs unique to Makati City, like the Blu Card Program and the Makatizen Benefit Card, may need some transition matters to work out over a longer period,” he pointed out.
Ordanes said he was unaware if Taguig City has programs similar to Makati City’s Blu Card and Makatizen Benefit Card, but expressed confidence that Taguig City would be able to create similar programs.
He noted that Taguig has its own major hospitals, medical facilities, and charitable institutions that may aid in the implementation of a similar program, “the financing and benefit features of which will be dependent on the availability of local funds.”
Transfer of voters’ records
Meanwhile, on Monday the Commission on Elections (Comelec) began reprinting nearly 1.8 million ballots to be used in the Oct. 30 barangay and SK elections, due to the transfer or renaming of barangays.
These include around 295,000 ballots in the 10 former Makati barangays that have to be renamed as Taguig barangays.
According to its memorandum dated Aug. 19, the Comelec has already begun to transfer the records of the affected voters in the 10 enlisted men’s barrio — “Embo” barangays, which used to be part of Makati’s Second District — for the upcoming elections.
It also recommended the Offices of the Election Officer of Makati and Taguig come up with a new list of precincts and qualified electoral boards, among others.
The Taguig City government, meanwhile, extended appreciation to the commission for deciding “to fully implement the Supreme Court’s final and executory decision in the territorial dispute.”
“We urge the city officials of Makati to demonstrate a spirit of cooperation and respect for the decision,” it said in a statement.