Blocking business

The court-issued temporary restraining order in favor of the Taguig City allowing the construction of an access road came out in the nick of time just before the opening of SM Prime Holding’s super high-end shopping mall SM Aura at the Bonifacio Global City (BGC). But nonetheless, traffic continues to be horrendous because of the McKinley Parkway road blockade inconveniencing BGC residents who have to go around almost the entire Global City just to get to their destinations.

By now the “fight” between giant developers SM and Ayala is becoming quite evident in the “proxy war” involving the local government of Taguig and BCDA, with the former supportive of SM while the latter has partnered with the Ayala group. It can be recalled that five years ago, BCDA donated the area where SM Aura now stands to the Taguig City government supposedly to build a civic center. But the city of Taguig did not have the funds to build one, much less relocate the squatters living in it. So Taguig decided to conduct a public bidding for the development of the land which SM Prime subsequently won. We are told SM spent close to a P100 million just to relocate the squatters – strictly following the Lina “Squatter Law.”

However, BCDA is now belatedly saying the construction of SM Aura is “illegal” – after the developer has sunk in over billions into the project. BCDA continues to insist that the area was supposed to be developed into a civic center – which some people find illogical considering that SM Aura is not just a mall but a state-of-the-art civic center that will serve the entire Taguig City community, not just residents of Global City, according to a Malacañang official who does not want to be identified.

But this battle between the two business giants is causing the general public a major “inconvenience,” to say the least, caused by the continued refusal of BCDA to allow the construction of an access road leading to the new mall. We asked the SM group for comment about this but they refused to say anything at this time, pointing out that the whole issue has become purely legal and should be left for the courts to decide.

Whether BCDA owns the area where the access road is being constructed is really beside the point. At the end of the day, it’s the right of the public to travel unimpeded that is being violated here – first through the McKinley Parkway blockade and second, by BCDA’s unilateral decision to prevent SM from completing the construction of an access road leading to the new mall.

Meanwhile, the “bosses” (meaning the general public) will have to wait until the issue is resolved by the court.

Billions in campaign contributions

A businessman who does not want to be identified estimates that the campaign contributions made by big business came close to a billion pesos – making the recent elections one of the most expensive. A big bulk of the donations went to the administration coalition senatorial ticket, the businessman disclosed – which should explain the outcome of the recent polls, he concludes.

The amount could be much higher however considering that a number of contributors would rather not disclose the real figures for obvious reasons, considering the fact that businessmen also hedge their bets and so end up making “token” contributions of a few million pesos to some potentially winnable candidates.

According to reports, the 2010 elections was also one of the most expensive in terms of campaign contributions and expenses, with some 50 individuals reportedly responsible for a big majority of P1.5 billion in campaign donations. Certainly, the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Commission on Elections will have their hands full cross checking the statement of campaign expenditures made by candidates and the disclosures from their contributors/donors. 

Ateneo 5

A group of diehard Ateneans led by Arben Santos (seen in the photo) are launching “5: A Tribute to Excellence” detailing the phenomenal rise of the Ateneo Blue Eagles basketball team that resulted in their historic “five-peat” consecutive wins in the UAAP from 2008 to 2012. The phenomenal feat was even acknowledged by the Sports Association of the Philippines when it named Ateneo as “Co-Athlete of the Year” in 2012 – the first time a college varsity team was bestowed such an honor, underscoring the truly unique accomplishment, Ateneans state with understandable pride.

The book, which will be launched at the Ayala Museum this June 7, narrates how the refreshed Ateneo basketball program started in 1999, resulting in the Blue Eagles emerging as UAAP champion in 2002. The road to glory however was paved with roadblocks and frustrations – all of which the Blue Eagles overcame to achieve the unprecedented “five-peat.”

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