Like an old song, it’s back

It keeps going back and forth, this issue concerning BF Homes in Parañaque. First, the city government wanted to open the major streets inside the subdivision to public traffic, ostensibly to ease the clogged traffic in the side streets of the Parañaque area. The UBFHAI (United BF Homes Association Inc.) under the leadership of its long-time president Celso Reyes vehemently opposed the idea.

I can see where the umbrella organization is coming from. The main issue of concern for the association is security. With all sorts of vehicles coming in and out without benefit of screening or checking, it can be a nightmarish security problem. Opening of the major streets, namely Aguirre Avenue and Concha Cruz would negate the need for vehicle stickers, which is issued by UBFHAI. From experience, these issuances are carried out quite responsibly – you couldn’t get a sticker without presenting the necessary documents like proof of ownership, notarized authorization from the corporation in case of company-owned vehicles, etc. And you would have to bring your vehicle to the site so they can stick it on.

As I understand it, the issue of stickers is also one of the sticky points in the whole brouhaha between the city government and the UBFHAI. BF Homes is still the biggest subdivision in the country, even touted as the biggest in Southeast Asia. With the sheer volume of residents alone, income from the stickers is quite hefty, and this is an annual affair. Add to this the other sources of income at the gates – all delivery trucks coming into the subdivision must pay a certain toll fee if they are allowed to get in.

The problem is, the fees are reportedly not pegged. Some sources say it is P300, some say it is as much as P500. If you have construction going on in your house, every time a delivery truck brings in gravel, cement, wood, etc., the truck driver has to fork out about P500. Since this is not part of the deal when you ordered the supplies, the additional charge is tacked on to your bill as part of delivery charges, on top of the construction company’s original delivery charges as agreed upon.

A simple lechon order delivered to your doorstep will likewise allegedly cost you an additional P500, and so will an order of draught beer for your party.

But the bigger problem is, the security guard asking for this toll fee cannot produce a receipt for your payment. If you want a receipt, you have to go to the UBFHAI to pay directly. In the meantime, before you can enter the subdivision gates, you would have to surrender your driver’s license to the guard at the gate, and produce a receipt for the toll fee if you want to get back your license before leaving the subdivision. And mind you, the security people manning the association offices are said to be arrogant and stuffy who think they are dealing with market vendors all the time and not homeowners who are paying their salaries. And by the way, the offices are closed at 5 p.m. sharp, so if you need to transact official business after five, you are up s___’s creek.

Parañaque Mayor "Jun" Bernabe has discussed some of the problems and feedbacks he has received from concerned homeowners. As much as possible, I try to see from both sides, as both sides may have legitimate issues to take up. Jun says that from the city government’s point of view, they are justified in opening the gates and treating the major streets as public. If the subdivision wants to be treated as a private entity, then they must pay taxes as such.

The shops now lining Aguirre Avenue (and they are plenty, really) are lauding Mayor Jun’s efforts and egging him on to fight, fight. Opening up these major streets, of course, will give them more business, not just from within the subdivision.There are numerous banners flapping about that say thank you Mayor Bernabe boldly. Most of these are from the commercial establishment’s owners, and many are also from private homeowners associations.

From some private homeowner’s point of view, however, there is still the question of security, and this is foremost among all the concerns. Lawlessness has increased in recent times, particularly along President’s Avenue, a street shared by other subdivisions like Tahanan, Teoville and Maywood subdivisions. It is really a public street, and under present circumstances, access to these subdivisions is still restricted. Vehicles must have stickers, or drivers will have to leave their license with the guard. Along President’s Avenue, some carnapping incidents have occurred. And that big parking area fronting the night market in the vicinity of Tropical Hut is largely underlit, and dangerous. The irony is, it is just a few meters away from the police outpost of BF Homes. "Ruins", as the night market is called, has customers up to 10:30 at night, and they can be easy prey to holdup men and carnappers who lurk in the dark in that big dark parking lot. I hope we don’t aggravate the problem.

Opening the major streets was not originally Mayor Jun’s idea. Then Mayor Joey Marquez was the original proponent, and it took a legal battle to have Mayor Joey’s directives stopped. Mayor Bernabe is continuing the fight. The recent developments are interesting. First, the homeowners’ association secured a temporary restraining order to prevent the city government from opening the streets. Then the City government filed with the Court of Appeals questioning the TRO. Now, the Court of Appeals has rendered a decision – it dismissed the city government’s petition because the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court gave the homeowners a preliminary mandatory injunction. Since both parties have earlier agreed to submit the matter for resolution to a lower court before this TRO business, both parties now await the lower court’s decision. This is going to be a long-drawn out affair, for sure.

It is a pity that Mayor Bernabe is embroiled in such sticky issues. There have been major positive developments in Parañaque recently, under his watch. Garbage used to be a major headache, but I can see that there is serious effort to address it. There is an information campaign egging the residents to segregate garbage, much like the program of Mayor Sonny Belmonte of Quezon City. We may not realize it, but garbage collection costs the city government a lot of tax money. Mayor Sonny has significantly reduced his city’s allocation for this by more than P20 million a month. Residents are confident Parañaque will get there.

Now, Maynilad water flows into the main pipes servicing a portion of BF Homes. True, it is only a small portion of the huge subdivision, and it started just a few days ago at President’s Avenue. It’s going to take some time, I guess, before it reaches the other end, nearer the Lopez entrance. But it’s the start, and I laud the good Mayor Jun for his untiring efforts. Soon enough, BF Homes homeowners will have potable waters flowing through their pipes. It’s been twenty years in the making, this promise of water from the NAWASA of old, and now Maynilad is finally fulfilling it, with the good mayor’s support.

Mabuhay! Be proud to be a Filipino.

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