Village official appeals to Makati, Taguig to end feud over Fort Bonifacio

Bonfacio Global City

MANILA, Philippines — One of the barangay (village) officials at Bonifacio Global City (BGC) has called on officials of Taguig and Makati cities to implement the Court of Appeals’ ruling awarding the disputed area to Makati, saying 20 years of confusion over which city has jurisdiction over them is enough.

“We thought the case has already been settled and we can now move on,” said Maritel Vitales, Southside barangay chairman.

According to Vitales, a portion of her barangay forms part of the revenue-rich BGC which, for the last 20 years, has been under Taguig’s jurisdiction although it never received a single centavo from the city government.

Instead, she said her barangay got an annual share of P12 million from Makati’s real property tax collection and P17 million from the national government’s Internal Revenue Allotment.

She lamented that there were major infrastructure projects, which Makati never got to implement in her area because of the boundary dispute.