DMCI’s coup in military housing

To most Filipinos, the concept of military housing has run the gamut from the ideal white clapboard cottages of Camp John Hay in Baguio City to inadequate cramped tenement apartments in Camps Aguinaldo and Crame to downright nonexistent. And to Filipino soldiers, this is an issue that has been belabored through wartime and peacetime, under various commanders-in-chief, and yes, cited as one of the reasons for every coup attempt.

But this will soon change. Rising in Fort Bonifacio, alongside luxurious Forbes Park homes, country clubs and high-rise condominiums, is a new housing project that attempts to change the way we look at military housing, and middle income housing in general, for good.

It’s called Bonifacio Heights, a complex of 19 five-storey condominium buildings set on a sprawling seven-hectare property, developed by construction giant DM Consunji Inc. (DMCI) Holdings. Priced between P620,000 to P999,000 per unit, on real estate that is considered to be among the most valuable in the metropolis, it is a daring venture unprecedented for the military, government housing, and the construction industry – specifically, the Department of National Defense, the Housing and Urban Coordinating Council (HUDCC) and DMCI Homes.

Most remarkably, it is an off-base scheme located within the city and offering easy access to the Makati business district: a first, given that most off-base housing is currently located on the outskirts.

Next, its target market is AFP personnel and their families who seek to live in their own homes well into their retirement. In the past, our soldiers were forced to leave the homes provided by the military after retiring, a grievance that has long been ignored. About 2,000 soldiers and their families will benefit from this development, and they may choose between 36-square meter, two-bedroom units or 24-square meter studio units, at flexible payment terms available from the Pag-IBIG fund, in-house or bank financing schemes.

And, unlike past government housing projects and more like upscale condominium developments, Bonifacio Heights will boast a central recreation area that includes a clubhouse, swimming pool, basketball court, tennis court, parks and playgrounds. The total building footprint covers only 22 percent of the entire property, giving the community a sense of wide open space.

"This project aims to enhance the dignity of the Filipino soldier," says DMCI executive Alfredo Austria. "This won’t be like the tenement apartments of the past. We’ll put it in a resort setting and will expend a lot on the landscaping."

Although DMCI has earned renown for its legendary mammoth endeavors – the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Rockwell Center, Ayala Tower One, among others – Bonifacio Heights is part of a new strain of construction that DMCI has been quietly undertaking the last few years. The DMCI Homes subsidiary developed the Lakeview and Vista de Lago condominium complexes in the Taguig area since the turn of the millennium. These projects, on which Bonifacio Heights will be based, are landmark achievements for the company, and have successfully raised the bar for middle-income housing in the country.

Adds Austria: "Lakeview and Vista de Lago are examples of how we put the needs and wants of the resident first and foremost. They are not cramped, they are well-lit, airy and spacious. We put in atria in the buildings for cross ventilation. We take care of security and maintenance. We even give them a drying area on the roofdeck for their laundry. In all, while mindful of their budget, we give these tenants the same consideration we have given the tenants of our other high-end projects."

Viewing the model units on display at the Bonifacio Heights site, it is evident that the most basic needs of the typical Filipino home dweller are taken into account. Perhaps because of a lack of feeling of ownership (as opposed to single detached houses), lack of discipline, or a failure to foster a sense of community, many Filipinos have not grown accustomed to living in high-density apartment buildings, as we can see in the decrepit state of many of our government housing projects. But this could also be partly attributed to the fact that most government housing projects fail to address such simple needs as children’s playgrounds, building maintenance, storage and laundry, and security.

The Bonifacio Heights development aspires to change all that in the sense that it is the developer that sets a high standard of living for the residents that they will shelter, by providing them with a quality environment that they would seek to care for and be proud of.

For though having a roof over one’s head is an inalienable right of human life, having a safe, comfortable and warm home is an undeniable need that makes life even more livable. Especially to those who offer their lives in the defense of our country.