Natl govt must put a stop to Makati-Taguig war

FOR nearly a year, we have watched with alarm as the cities of Makati and Taguig have engaged in a bitter fight over a part of Makati transferred to Taguig by a Supreme Court ruling last April. This week, another skirmish in the long-running battle descended to the lunacy of the Makati city government suggesting that an attempted takeover of a park in the disputed area might result in actual violence and “blood on Taguig’s hands.”

We certainly hope that statement was just an instance of the Makati government being overly dramatic, but it does highlight how ridiculous the entire situation has become. As both city governments have demonstrated that they are incapable of acting maturely and in the best interests of their respective citizens, the national government must intervene to put an end to the embarrassing and harmful dispute.

The City of Makati and the City of Taguig have been wrangling for years over the 10 so-called EMBO barangay (the acronym stands for “enlisted men’s barrio”), areas that were developed as housing for servicemen adjacent to the old Fort McKinley, which is now Bonifacio Global City (BGC). The roots of the conflict began in January 1986 when the first President Marcos issued a proclamation assigning jurisdiction over Fort McKinley to Taguig but leaving the attached residential areas as part of Makati. In December 2021, the Supreme Court ruled that the administration of the EMBO barangay should be transferred to Taguig, and after the process of appeals by Makati ran its course, reaffirmed that ruling “with finality” in April 2023.

It is easy enough to understand why both Makati and Taguig covet the area; with a total population of more than 215,000, the district represents a substantial economic asset for whichever city has jurisdiction over it. And as the area borders both BGC and the rest of Makati, it is some of the most potentially valuable land for development in all of Metro Manila.

However, the development potential for the benefit of the residents and businesses already located there or prospective new investors has been stymied because of the decadeslong jurisdiction battle. To some degree, this has even negatively affected the development for the two cities beyond the EMBO barangay. For example, in October last year, Makati Mayor Mar-Len Abigail “Abby” Binay announced that the city’s plans to build a subway had to be put on hold because two of the 10 planned stations were to have been located in the EMBO barangay of West Rembo and Pembo.

At the time, Mayor Binay explained the suspension of the subway plan was Taguig’s fault. “That uncontrollable variable of having to deal with the City of Taguig is the number one issue. We are already struggling with schools and health centers; what more with the subway? It’s not being considered,” she said.

On the opposite side of the coin, Taguig officials have accused Makati of attempting to maintain a foothold in defiance of the Supreme Court order in the EMBO barangay with the aforementioned schools and health centers, and other facilities such as the park that was padlocked for lack of proper permits by Taguig officials this week.

The real victims in all of this are the tens of thousands of local residents caught in the middle and forced to live with a great deal of uncertainty as to whether the services they are entitled to will be available or not. It is understandable that the national government has been hesitant to intervene, not wishing to set a precedent of overriding local governments’ authority and perhaps not unreasonably expecting the two cities to settle their differences like adults. However, the situation has gone too far, and it seems that only intervention will resolve.

A good solution to end the dispute relatively quickly and, more importantly, with finality would be for some form of arbitration to be implemented, probably under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior and Local Government. Makati could then be compelled to peaceably transfer assets such as school and health center buildings to Taguig, which in turn is compelled to pay their fair value to Makati for them. Likewise, necessary compromises to allow stalled projects such as Makati’s planned subway to move forward could be imposed.