IS THIS IN THE PHILIPPINES?

(BGC in Taguig becoming a City That Never Sleeps)

If you think this is New York, Dubai or Singapore, you are mistaken. This picture is BGC (Bonifacio Global City) of the once laid-back Taguig town in southwestern Metro Manila. It has become the model urban center of the Philippines, where headquarters of conglomerates and multi-national companies, 5 star hotels, embassies, fancy restaurants and bars, world-class sports and health facilities, prestigious international schools, well-built condominium buildings and  high-end malls converge as one integrated community.

Some 30-40 years ago, this place was partly military golf course and abandoned grass fields where cows and goats find abundant pasture. Now, it has become a City That Never Sleeps—it is the fun capital for all generations—Gen Z, millennials and baby-boomers. Thanks to the visionary leadership and political will of a former police general turned Philippine president Fidel Ramos who transformed this area from a military reservation to a global city, even at the opposition of his fellow military and police generals.  If you are a foreigner and you stayed in BGC, you will change your impression and international-stereo-type of Manila as dirty, dangerous and dingy. And if you are a Filipino and has been to BGC for the first time, you will take a long pause and asked: “Am I in the Philippines?”

The transformation of BGC has been facilitated significantly by road and civil works infrastructures which were built in the last 2 decades—The C5 (Circumferential Road) on its southern end, paving northern and southern Manila residents access to BGC. The Makati-BGC Flyovers, connecting Philippine’s commercial capital Makati to BGC.  And just recently, the BGC-Ortigas Center Link Project—a traffic game changer that reduced travel/driving time form 1 hour to 11 minutes by by-passing EDSA—the notorious traffic Armageddon capital. This has connected the country’s second-largest commercial center—Ortigas Center—with BGC. 

What is impressive with BGC compared to other places in the Philippines is the absence of the ugly and fire-hazardous “octopus” electrical wirings that you see connecting electric posts in almost all areas in the Philippines.  The wise planners of BGC put it underground—the best thing to do in this 26-typhoon-per-year country. Secondly, the roads are wider.  What is lacking though are elevated parking areas and covered walkways connecting all buildings in BGC.

Dining and Bar Areas at BGC

If the picture above is what you see, most like you just started your dinner and had your first alcoholic drink. BGC never sleeps.