No need for BF residents to buy stickers from UBFHAI

The city governments of Parañaque and Las Piñas said yesterday that BF Homes residents can freely enter seven of the subdivision’s gates, contrary to claims made by United BF Homeowners Association Inc. (UBFHAI) president Celso Reyes that residents are supposed to buy stickers from his group to be able to enter the subdivision.

Mayor Florencio Bernabe Jr. said “residents and non-residents with vehicles have no problem entering gates located in Parañaque because we have an existing ordinance that says those entry points should remain open to the public,” referring to the El Grande, Aguirre and Elizalde gates of BF Homes subdivision.

Bernabe also said that Mayor Vergel Aguilar, in a letter dated Jan. 17, 2008, has denied permits for Reyes to post guards at BF Homes gates located in Las Piñas.

“Your guards have no more authority to man the gates,” the mayor’s letter to Reyes read, adding that the UBFHAI’s men “must therefore vacate immediately.”

Despite Aguilar’s orders, Reyes’ group, through their website, continues to remind residents and non-residents that it will not honor stickers other than that issued by them.

However, the Las Piñas city government said the Southland, Mariposa, and Concha Cruz gates are covered by “friendship stickers” it gives residents for free.

Jimmy Castillano, chief of the Las Piñas Public Information Office, said the friendship stickers provide residents access to the BF International gate that originates from Southville leading to the Toyota-Alabang area. The routes form part of the BF Homes subdivision.

The city’s “friendship roads” strategy provide access to major villages and subdivisions and serve as alternate routes to ease traffic along the Alabang-Zapote Road, the city’s main thoroughfare.

“The exit would be a portion of Alabang going to the direction of Las Piñas. That is why residents are not really confronted with so much hassle while going home to their respective houses. There is not much traffic in the area because usually those who pass through that route are city residents,” Castillano explained.

Aguilar expressed hope that the conflict between the management committee of the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) management committee and the officials of the United BF Homeowners’ Association Inc. (UBFHAI) will soon be resolved.

Bernabe said it is the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) that should settle the dispute between Reyes and members of the management committee (mancom) it created to temporarily run the affairs of UBFHAI since the organization’s financial records are being audited based on allegations of graft supposedly committed by Reyes and some of his officials.

Both the mancom and Reyes’ group are issuing car stickers for residents and non-residents who wish to access the residential area’s roads which  interconnects the cities of Parañaque, Las Piñas, and Muntinlupa.

The opposing parties maintain that they are duly authorized to exercise control and supervision over BF Homes – a large community of homeowners covering some 10,000 households.

Last week, De Castro, who also chairs the HLURB, issued a decision extending the HLURB mancom’s control over UBFHAI for another 30 days and then have the mancom call for an election of new association officials after finishing their audit of the organization’s supposedly questionable financial records.

Reyes, however, believes that he is still president and that he has 15 days to appeal the ruling before the Office of the President. He intends to bring the case all the way to the Supreme Court (SC) if necessary.

Residents allege that some of the village gates are under the control of HLURB’s committee while the UBFHAI mans the other gates.

Former UBFHAI president Rolando Navarro alleged that Reyes is swindling residents by continuing to issue UBFHAI stickers.

Reyes said he is not violating any order because the committee’s mandate expired last Jan. 8 and he is an elected official of the UBFHAI.