Fanning the flames

It’s a categorical no on the part of the Supreme Court.

In a last-ditch attempt to convince the highest court of the land to change its mind about its decision awarding jurisdiction over portions of Makati City to Taguig City, Makati asked for the court’s approval to file a second motion for reconsideration of its Dec. 1. 2021 decision. This was denied last June 26.

In 2021, the SC’s Third Division denied Makati’s petition for review on certiorari and reinstated with modification the July 8, 2011 decision of the Pasig Regional Trial Court that awarded jurisdiction to Taguig over the Fort Bonifacio military reservation, including 10 barangays, that formed part of Makati.

On Sept. 28, 2022, the court’s Third Division denied with finality the first motion for reconsideration filed by Makati. It also rejected Makati’s motion to refer the case en banc. The SC also ordered the immediate issuance of an entry of judgment, adding that no further pleadings, motions, letters, or communications will be entertained.

If the SC’s decision has attained finality, then why hasn’t jurisdiction over the disputed areas been transferred to Taguig?

We don’t know actually what’s keeping Taguig from taking over when it clearly has the right to do so.

In a reply to Makati RTC Branch 64 Executive Judge Gina Bibat-Palamos, SC court administrator Raul Villanueva said as an initial assessment, the decision of the SC third division should be the subject of a writ of execution before the trial court of origin. And when this writ has been implemented by the Department of Interior and Local Government, then that is the reckoning period for the transfer of jurisdiction from Makati to Taguig.

Makati City administrator Claro Certeza earlier wrote Palamos seeking clarification on the transfer of pending court cases in the 10 affected barangays in Fort Bonifacio. Judge Palamos in turn referred the matter to the SC.

But the local government of Taguig is insisting that it does not need to obtain such a writ to exercise jurisdiction over the 10 barangays that were formerly part of Makati since the SC decision clearly provides that it is final and executory and therefore, the requirement from the SC’s Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) does not have the force of law and does not bind Taguig.

It said the supposed initial assessment from the OCA, which is an initial assessment, is not only a non-binding opinion but more importantly beyond the OCA’s legal authority.

It is just a matter of time, though before, Taguig assumes jurisdiction over the 10 barangays or EMBOs that used to be part of Makati.

The SC in its landmark 2021 ruling confirmed that the Fort Bonifacio military reservation, consisting of Parcels 3 and 4, Psu-2031, is part of the territory of the City of Taguig.

Everything started when on Nov. 22, 1993, Taguig filed a complaint before the Pasig Regional Trial Court against Makati City, et.al. for judicial confirmation of the territory and boundary limits of Taguig.

The complaint arose from Taguig’s territorial dispute with Makati over the areas comprising the enlisted men’s barangays or EMBOs and the entirety of Fort Bonifacio.

Taguig claimed that the areas comprising the EMBOs and the Inner Fort in Fort Bonifacio, formerly known as Fort McKinley, were within its territory and jurisdiction.

The Pasig RTC in 2011 ruled in favor of Taguig, holding that indeed, the Fort Bonifacio military reservation consisting of Parcels 3 and 4 are part of Taguig’s territory.

There are those of the opinion that had Makati not dragged the case further, it could have retained the jurisdiction over the EMBO barangays, and it would only be the disputed Bonifacio Global City that would go to Taguig.

They said it all started when Makati went after BGC, forcing Taguig to seek judicial confirmation of its territory.

Prosecutor and blogger Darwin Canete said in an interview posted on Facebook that due to the Binay family’s desire for Makati to assume jurisdiction over Bonifacio Global City (BGC), given its huge commercial potential, by pursuing the case, they lost more, even losing jurisdiction over the EMBOs. “Dapat hindi na talaga nila hinabol yung BGC. Nawala pa tuloy sa kanila yung mga EMBO na baluarte nila,” he emphasized, adding that it was really a huge gamble on the part of Makati’s leadership.

Makati ended up losing not only the 240-hectare military reservation in Fort Bonifacio where the BGC is located, but also the EMBO barangays of Pembo, Comembo, Cembo, South Cembo, West Rembo, East Rembo, Pitogo, Rizal, Post Proper Northside and Post Proper Southside. All in all, Makati had lost a total of 729 hectares of territory to Taguig.

But even before resolution of the issue on whether a writ of execution from the trial court is needed, government agencies such as the DepEd, DILG, DBM, PNP, and DOH are said to be all abiding with the decision of the SC. In fact, Comelec is already preparing to move affected voters from Makati to Taguig for the upcoming barangay and SK elections.

This leaves only Makati as the only one which does not want to comply with the SC’s decision. Well, there’s the matter of Pateros, which is claiming ownership over Fort Bonifacio and the EMBOs. But that’s a different story altogether.

It is easy to understand where Makati is coming from. After all, it is about to lose a huge portion of its territory, voting population, source of income, among others.

But fanning the flames of dissent among the former Makatizens when the highest court of the land has already spoken with finality is not helping anybody. Makati Mayor Abby Binay has even said that running as mayor of Taguig in the 2025 elections is an option available to her, a statement which is not helping calm the situation down.

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