Month: September 2019

History. In the mid 80’s, as more and more vehicles began to choke the streets of the MCBD, complaints wre rife about the traffic situation and
the lack of on-street parking space.

In 1987, then Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay decided to put the parking situation in order. He brought together the Makati City Government, Ayala Land Inc., MaCEA, and the Makati Chamber of Commerce and Industry to create a private organization to manage parking and traffic in the MCBD.

On April 6, 1987, the Makati Parking Authority (MAPA), a nonstock, non-profit and self-sustaining private corporation, was formally organized “to effect low-cost traffic management that shall control and facilitate free movement and regulated parking of motor vehicles” in the MCBD. MAPA is governed by a Board of Trustees representing the incorporating organizations and who receive no remuneration. The present Board is headed by David L. Balangue, president/chairman of MaCEA.

Several ordinances have been passed to put in place traffic schemes and parking regulations that: authorize MAPA to administer, manage and implement all policies, rules and regulations relative to onstreet pay parking projects within the MCBD; designate one-way and noparking streets as well as loading and unloading points; impose three-hour

MAPA at a Glance
· MAPA field personnel are deputized by the City Government to enforce all rules and regulations
relative to parking and traffic.

· Its main source of revenue is the collection of on-street parking fees. The proceeds (minus 15% remitted to the City Government) are used to support its financial requirements, and the rest is plowed back to the public thru parking and traffic management projects such as installation of traffic lights,
maintenance of road pavement marking and parking and traffic related road signs, and posting
of parking wardens and traffic enforcers.

· Major activities include: parking management, traffic management, crime prevention, improvement of
public service, and networking with barangays and other organizations, public and private, that share its
goals.

Accomplishments
MAPA has much to show for its 30 years of service. It has:
· Minimized traffic congestion and obstruction along Ayala Avenue, cutting end-to-end travel time from
30-45 minutes to 13-15 minutes;
· Discouraged long-term use of onstreet parking, thereby significantly increasing the number of slots
available for use by business visitors;
· Minimized vagrancy, vandalism, and car theft;
· Generated employment;
· Disciplined motorists to mind and follow traffic and parking rules, and pedestrians to use the sidewalks, underpasses and elevated walkway; and
· Restored order in the streets of the District.

Enforcement of Parking Rules & Regulations
· Parking use is limited to three hours per slot, from 7AM to 5PM on most streets, and free from 5 PM – 7AM. Parking is prohibited on certain streets from 7-10 AM and 5-9 PM, which are indicated by signs.
· VAT-inclusive parking fees per slot are P50 for the first two hours and P60 for the third hour for cars and P30 per hour for motorcycles.
· Payment of fees should be made to MAPA enforcers on site.
· Vehicles are not allowed to park on on-street parking slots with yellow “T” lines.
· Cars and motorcycles that exceed the three-hour parking limit shall be deemed illegally parked and will be either wheel-clamped or towed away and impounded.

For assistance in the release of
clamped/impounded vehicles, please call:
(02) 808 0710 & (02) 808 0711. For
complaints and suggestions, contact the
General Manager by email at inquiry@
makati parking.com.ph or by fax at
(02) 844-0379. Complaints should be
accompanied by a copy of the Parking
Ticket and Traffic Citation Ticket (OVR).

Anyone who has walked or driven along Ayala Avenue lately should
have noticed the new street signs on every street corner, from Apartment Ridge in the south all the way to Gil Puyat in the north.

The signs make up a new wayfinding system designed to make finding one’s way in the MCBD easier for both pedestrians and motorists.

The signs are larger, The recipient organization’s programs include
providing its beneficiaries with opportunities for employment,
free medical and dental services, a supplemental feeding program,
and motivational development—polio and stroke patients,
children with cerebral palsy, foot with a more legible sans serif font,
a graphic element that sports the common colors of the new MaCEA
logo and the “Make it Makati” brand, and are reflectorized for
easier readability at night. The old signs in the streets in Legazpi Village, Salcedo Village and Apartment Ridge will be replaced with the new ones soon.

The wayfinding system also includes directional signs to various
major places in the MCBD. The signs so far posted are strategically
placed along Ayala Avenue and in the underpasses

Remember those drainage inlets at the sidewalks, those ground-level
horizontal holes that allow water to flow from the streets into underground culverts? Well, they are now a thing of the past in the MCBD. Alerted to the fact that the open inlets were serving as ingress-egress points for rodents at night, the MaCEA management immediately verified the information and, finding it to be true, decided to address the problem, head on and at once.

The holes have been attached with closely spaced steel grills that rodents
can’t pass through. As of the end of June, 223 inlets had been fixed: 117
in Legazpi Village and 106 in Salcedo Village.

Things are moving at a fast clip in the MCBD. Ever on the lookout for
facilities and machines that need improvement or replacement from
the effects of wear and tear, we are currently undertaking renovation
work on two facilities—one, the Legazpi Underpass that bridges
the two sides of Ayala Avenue near the carpark of the old Makati Stock
Exchange on one side and Locsin Building on the other; and two, the Active Park in Legazpi Village next to the carpark there.

At the Legazpi Underpass, we started with the installation of two brand-new escalators, one on each side, under our escalator replacement program. To lend it a spic-and-span look, the walls of the tunnel are being
repainted and the ceiling given a brighter look, while the tiles on the
floor and stairs are being replaced. Being the first one constructed in the
MCBD, this underpass has received the worst beating. Work is scheduled
for completion by November 2017. The Active Park is also undergoing renovation: an overhaul, actually, judging from the sweeping landscaping changes being made— new tiled pathways, new grass, new ornamental plants, new playground for the kids, you name it. Environment advocates should rest assured that the trees have been left untouched. So extensive is the work that it will look like a new park when the work is done, before the end of 2017.

Successful organizations share two hallmarks—continuity and change.

Continuity is a cherished core value of an organization with a clear vision of what it wants to be/become and a clear definition of what it should to do to turn that vision into reality. Change, on the other hand, guarantees
that the organization is ever moving forward, in tune with ideas that
breed new technology, technology that in turn saves time, cuts costs,
improves productivity, and generally makes life easier and safer for all.

No clearer proof is there of continuity in MaCEA than the reelection of the
governors during the 54th Annual Membership Meeting on May 09, 2017 at
the Manila Polo Club. There, all eleven incumbent governors were re-installed in the Board—Antonio S. Abacan Jr., David L. Balangue, Manuel A.
Blas II, Cesar V. Campos, Edgar O. Chua, William V. Coscolluela, Ismael G. Cruz, Anna Ma. Margarita B. Dy, Bernard Vincent O. Dy, Antonio G. Puyat, and Cornelio T. Peralta.

The re-installed governors went on to reelect three officers to their positions in the board—Balangue as chairman and president,
Coscolluela as vice chairman and vice Board of Governors reelected
carried through.

And then there’s change, an element of success in the 21st century that MaCEA is in abundant supply of. It is the one thing that ensures that the MCBD will keep marching on to the future, in step with
time, if not ahead of it.

Look around and you see change everywhere. Read about them in the other pages of this issue. president, and Puyat as treasurer. This ensures that the direction the Association has taken in recent years will be carried on and that the projects already started or are in the pipeline shall be

It was in 1995 when the Association started concretizing its then newly- hatched pedestrianization plan for the MCBD. The plan called for the
construction of three levels of walkways— on grade, underground, and above ground—to promote a major lifestyle change for motorists, encouraging them Architect’s drawing JULY 2017 to quit taking short hops
around the district and take to walking instead. This was aimed at easing the traffic situation in the district before it got worse.

They started with the underpasses, which were equipped
with ascend escalators placed alongside stairways. The normal lifespan of an escalator, given wear and tear, is 15 years. Which explains their frequent breakdowns after 2010. Last year, the Board decided it was time the mechanized stairs were retired. And replaced. The answer: a project to replace the 29 escalators in the 7 underpasses and the elevated walkway that runs the length of De la Rosa St. in Legazpi Village. As of
April 2017, 11 new machines have been installed—two in the Legazpi Underpass, four each at the Rufino and Paseo de Roxas underpasses, and one at the entrance to elevated walkway towards Greenbelt 5.

Replacement of the 18 others will be done on a staggered schedule until 2022 at a total cost of 90 million. The 11 escalators now in place cost P50 million.

It is clear that MaCEA is leaving no stone unturned in its continuing bid
to further secure Makati CBD’s place as the most prized business address in the country.

MaCEA is moving to a new home! Soon. The vision of a new MaCEA
building— as gleaned in the architect’s drawing—is slowly but surely taking
concrete form, as it rises from the ground up at the southern corner of the Legazpi car park on Legazpi St., site of the Legazpi Village Sunday Market.

The building is scheduled for completion by November this year, which
means that the staff is likely to be spending Christmas 2017 in their new home.

The new building has two floors, the first to be occupied by a reception area and a boardroom, where the Board of Governors shall henceforth be converging for their monthly meetings.

The second floor will house the general manager’s office, the work stations
of the 10-man staff, a storage area, and a pantry. The building will have centralized air-conditioning and internet connection and ample parking for guests.

This is the fourth move of the Association offices in its 54-year history. Originally operating from a rented space on the third floor of the old Makati
Exchange Building on Ayala Avenue, it moved in 1974 to its own building at the compound of ACEA (Ayala Commercial Estate Association, MaCEA’s former name) on Amorsolo St. corner Tindalo St., in front of the Makati Medical Center. On its 30th year, 1993, MaCEA moved its offices to a
building at the Legazpi Mini Park (now Washington SyCip Park) on Legazpi St., Legazpi Village, where it remains to this day.

The space below the vehicular overpass at the corner of A. Arnaiz Ave. and Amorsolo St. has been adorned with a green wall, a veritable vertical garden that at once fights air pollution and prettifies the place.

Responding with dispatch to reports of the presence of nocturnal rodents in some places, drainage inlets that used to be open have been fitted with steel railings to keep said pests away.

And to make the task of beautification more time- and cost-efficient, we are shifting from manual to mechanized, and have acquired tools for trimming plants and hedges, a mower for cutting grass, and a basket truck for pruning trees and ridding them of branches that stick out towards streets. Plants on center islands are now watered with the use of a watering machine manned by an operator.

The entire stretch of the elevated walkway extension has also been aesthetically enhanced with potted greens on both its exterior and interior sides.

And the staff of the cleaning brigade, clad in uniforms, move from place to place to sweep the streets and sidewalks clean and keep them spic and span throughout the day.

In an urban hub of steel, cement and glass, a patch of green is always held dear, as precious as an oasis in a desert. Three such nooks are found in the MCBD, places to repair to for quiet conversation or to read a book or to break a sweat or simply to sit in silence in an attempt to shut out the din. The lush trees offer the ultimate breath of life, oxygen, a precious gift handed out free by Mother Nature.

The parks are the lungs of the Makati CBD that allow it to breathe and stay healthy.
The Jaime Velasquez Park in Salcedo Village and the Washington SyCip Park in Legazpi Village are home to lush trees that pump out precious oxygen and hedges and grass that offer rest to tired minds and eyes. On weekends they play host to bazaars that draw hordes of shoppers.

The eponymous Washington SyCip Park, unique for the Impy Pilapil art pieces that dot its gardens, will soon be has been made more special by another precious feature: a Japanese garden that symbolizes the best qualities of the crane and the turtle—health and happiness for the crane, stability and longevity for the turtle.

The Japanese Garden, a gift to Mr. Washington SyCip after whom the park is named, , broke ground in October 2016 in a simple ceremony attended by Mr. SyCip, Security Bank President Mr. Frederick Dy, Japanese Ambassador Kazuhide Ishikawa, and Makati Mayor Abigail Campos. The garden was inaugurated on February 14, 2017.

Both parks have been re-greened with additional carabao grass and made more accommodating to bikers with a bike rack to deposit their two wheelers safely in.

Velasquez Park is host to a corner playground where the children can have their fill of fun, while the Active Park in Legazpi Village remains a favored place for health buffs who prefer light exercises such as brisk-walking, jogging, and biking.

With the sidewalks taken care of under the Sidewalk Enhancement and the Covered Walkway Projects, the other focal point is maintenance and improvement of the district’s road network.

Improvement calls for roads, constantly beaten from wear and tear, to be overlaid with asphalt to make driving smooth and easy.

Asphalting of roads took on a frenzied pace in the year under review, with a total 198,949 sqm of roads covered—91,610 sqm on 14 main roads and 25,529 sqm on 12 back streets in Legazpi Village; 46,350 sqm on 9 main roads and 24,092 sqm on 9 back streets in Salcedo Village; and 11,368 sqm on 5 main streets in the Apartment Ridge area.

In addition, patchwork asphalting for repair of potholed segments was done on 3,808 sqm of roads during the year.

Safety and security are paramount concerns in any community, and especially so in a high-profile commercial and residential center such as the Makati CBD, with an illustrious name to protect and a rich promise to deliver.

With the extension to 24/7of the operating hours of the seven underpasses in the district, the need for greater security has become more pronounced. This called for the installation of CCTV cameras—40 in all—that capture movements and activities in the underpasses. The images caught by the cameras are transmitted in real time to monitors at the MaCEA operations center, where they are recorded and filed, for use in the profiling of subjects.

The Association has recently acquired a brand-new pick-up that serves as a deterrent force and first responder in cases of emergency. Manned by two Red Cross-certified first responders, the van is equipped with tools for first aid—an oxygen tank, a blood pressure monitoring machine, a stretcher, and a complete first aid kit.

Colored red, with the MaCEA logo and vanity phone number emblazoned on both sides, the pickup operates in two 12-hour shifts and weaves in and out of streets day and night, ready to respond to emergency situations, its presence alone serving as a deterrent to wrongdoing.

With a number of structures being torn down and new ones rising from the ground up, 
developers are constantly reminded of MaCEA-established policy and rules on safety in construction sites, such as the use of prescribed safety nets and keeping sidewalks open and unobstructed—to ensure self-enforcement of best construction practices and avoid accidents.

As a matter of routine, day-to-day security demands are served by roving guards who patrol the parks, car parks, underpasses and the elevated walkway on foot and by mobile guards who go around the district on motorbikes.

Concern for the safety of the resident, working, and transient communities in the district prompted the Board of Governors to build two foot bridges across busy Gil Puyat Avenue on both sides of Ayala Avenue.

Work on the first bridge, which connects the Columns Building with RCBC Building, was started in November and is scheduled to be completed in June 2017.

The other bridge, on the west side of Ayala Avenue, will connect the Makati Post Office to Teleperformance People’s Support.

When completed, the twin pedestrian overpasses will not only provide safe passage for people crossing Gil Puyat Ave. but are also seen to contribute to easing vehicular traffic in the district and beyond.

Navigating the roads in the district from one point to another has become safer and more comfortable with the Sidewalk Enhancement Project under which the sidewalks in both Legazpi and Salcedo Villages, with broken, chipped or missing tiles, have been furnished with new ones.

To make walking even more enticing, sidewalks along two major thoroughfares–Valero St. in Salcedo Village and De la Rosa St. in Legazpi Village—have been fitted with roofs for protection from sun and rain. This same amenity has been extended to certain sections of V.A. Rufino St.

In addition, the covered walkways on the entire stretch of Valero St. have been fixed with LED lights, illuminating the once-dark pathways and giving people, especially those who work the late night or graveyard shifts, a heightened sense of security.