Makati subdivision opposes 'relocation'

Residents of a middle-class residential village in Makati City expressed strong opposition yesterday to the city government’s plan to “relocate” their subdivision by modifying barangay territorial boundaries.

Ecology Village 1 president Mauricio Martelino, representing 60 to 70 homeowners, said the city council is seeking to move them from Barangay San Lorenzo to Barangays Pio del Pilar and Bangkal.

“We are definitely against this measure,” he told The STAR.

He said the city council wants to move parts of Barangay San Lorenzo to Barangays Pio del Pilar and Bangkal.

Martelino said the reason given by the city council is that the transfer would increase the incomes of Pio del Pilar and Bangkal, and that San Lorenzo, which is among the two most affluent barangays in the country – along with Barangay Bel-Air – can afford the loss.

However, he said the increase in income will also increase expenses for basic services like garbage collection, sanitation, and peace and order.

“The income would not be enough to take care of the (increased number of) people,” Martelino said. “We are afraid that we will not be getting the basic services.”

He said Ecology Village is admittedly a middle-class residential area but urban areas near the Makati Medical Center will also be affected.

Martelino also said a city ordinance, which did not even have a public hearing, cannot change barangay boundaries because only a national law passed by Congress and Malacañang can do that.

He said Barangay San Lorenzo chairman Joshua Santiago is against the proposed ordinance as well, though some of his barangay councilors approve of the plan.

Barangay San Lorenzo has a land area of 269.35 hectares and a population of 6,487, and a P118-million budget this year.

Among the business establishments located within San Lorenzo are the Glorietta and Greenbelt malls, New World Hotel, Oakwood (now Ascott) Hotel, Intercontinental Hotel, Shangri-la Hotel, Makati Medical Center, Landmark, the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., Bank of the Philippine Islands, and Allied Bank.

Santiago said he has refused to sign the barangay resolution signed by some of his barangay councilors, which was also done without public consultation.

“I will not be pressured into signing something that I do not believe is beneficial to the constituents of Barangay San Lorenzo,” he said.