Makati City

Makati City is one of the most important cities in the Philippines in terms of finance and commerce. Situated east of the capital, Manila, Makati is one of the cities and municipalities that comprise Metro Manila—the National Capital Region. Makati is often referred to as the Financial Capital of the Philippines since many companies have their offices and headquarters in the city. Makati is also home to the influential Makati Business Club and the Philippine Stock Exchange. Ayala Avenue, running through the heart of the central Business District is often called the Wall Street of the Philippines.

Makati is noted for its highly cosmopolitan culture. Many expatriates live and work in the city. Makati is also home to many first-class shopping malls such as Ayala Center and Rockwell Center. The city also has many of the country's five-star hotels like The Peninsula Manila, the Mandarin Oriental, and the Shangri-la Makati Hotel.

Makati came from the Tagalog word kati, which means tide. This primarily refers to the rise and ebb of the tide of the Pasig River on the city's northern border. The river drains into Manila Bay to the east.

Today the city is one of the most modern cities in the country. However, it faces challenges due to the disparate gap between the new city in the west, which contains the Central Business District, and the old city in the east, which is largely poor and where most of the city's slums are located.

The City

High-rise buildings of Makati City

Makati is located within the quadrangle of 12′011″ °north and 14′331″ °E right at the center of Metro Manila. The city is bounded on the north by the Pasig River, facing Mandaluyong City, on the northeast by Pasig City, on the southeast by the municipalities of Pateros and Taguig, on the northwest by the City of Manila, and on the southwest by Pasay City. Makati has a total land area of 27.36 square kilometers; it constitutes 4.3 percent of Metro Manila's total land area.

At the center of the city is the Central Business District (CBD) where many companies in the Philippines have their offices or headquarters. This is where many of the country's tallest skyscrapers are located. The Makati skyline is one of the most impressive sights in Metro Manila.

Two of Metro Manila's main arteries pass through Makati. The Epifanio De los Santos Avenue (EDSA) pass along the southeast part of Makati and connects the city with Mandaluyong City and Pasay City. The South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) runs through the western part of Makati and connects the city with Manila to the north and with southern Metro Manila. The Skyway, an elevated highway built on top of SLEX, provides residents coming from southern Metro Manila a fast way to reach Makati. SLEX and EDSA intersect at the Magallanes Interchange, which is the most complex system of elevated roadways in Metro Manila.

Other major roads in Makati include Buendia Avenue, also called Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue, which connects EDSA and SLEX in the north; Ayala Avenue, an important street that runs through the Central Business District; and Makati Avenue, which connects Ayala Avenue with Buendia Avenue.

Population

Makati City has a population of 444,867, according to the 2000 Census. This figure represents an increase of 39,824 or 8 per cent over the 1995 Census figure. Among the cities and municipalities in Metro Manila, Makati ranks fifth in population, with a 5 percent share. In a span of 97 years, Makati's population grew 193 times. The 1903 Census placed the population at 2,700.

Although its population is slightly less than half a million, the daytime population of Makati City is estimated to be a million during the weekdays because of the large number of people who go to the city to work, shop, and do business, especially in the Central Business District.

The Central Business District

The Central Business District (CBD) is where most of Makati's financial resources is concentrated. This is an informal district bounded by Buendia Avenue, Makati Avenue, Ayala Avenue, Pasay Road, and Pasong Tamo. It mainly encompasses Legaspi Village, Salcedo Village, and parts of Bel-Air.

Many skyscrapers rise in this area. PBCom Tower, the country's tallest building, reaches up 265 meters along Ayala Avenue. One of the trading floors of the Philippine Stock Exchange is housed in Ayala Tower One and at the old Makati Stock Exchange Building, both also along Ayala Avenue.

The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), the country's oldest bank, has its headquarters at the corner of Ayala Avenue and Paseo de Roxas. Other companies that have their offices and country/regional headquarters within Makati City, most within the CBD, include IBM, Procter & Gamble, Citibank, Ayala Corporation, Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), Metrobank, Intel Philippines, Nestlé, and JG Summit.

Shopping centers

Ayala Center, along EDSA and Ayala Avenue is the most known commercial center in the city. Developed by the Ayala Corporation, it contains two shopping malls, Glorietta and Greenbelt, five hotels, and an office building. The larger of the two shopping malls is Glorietta, which itself is a cluster of malls. Rising from Glorietta 4 is the Oakwood Premier, a luxurious hotel-apartment residence at the heart of the center. Along the periphery of Glorietta are three department stores: SM Department Store Makati, Rustan's, and the Landmark. Across Makati Avenue from Glorietta is Greenbelt. This is one of the most sophisticated, modern, and expensive malls in the country. Greenbelt features dozens of coffee stores and restaurants, all overlooking a well-landscaped green park at the center where a domed Catholic chapel dominates the skyline. Other hotels in the vicinity of Ayala Center are the Makati Shangri-la Hotel, the Manila Peninsula, the Dusit Hotel Nikko Manila Garden, the Hotel Intercontinental Manila, and the New World Renaissance Hotel.

Rockwell Center is the other first-class shopping center in Makati. Rockwell features the large Power Plant Mall popular with expatriates. At the periphery of the center are many high-class residential condominium towers, the Asian Eye Institute, and a famous graduate school.

Other shopping centers. The Cash and Carry Supermarket in the west along South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) features many products at low prices. Makati Cinema Square, along Pasong Tamo Road, used to be a popular shopping mall with the residents. Adjacent to the Makati Cinema Square is the big and modern Waltermart Mall. The Guadalupe Commercial Center, along EDSA and Pasig River is a middle-class shopping center frequented by residents from the poorer areas of Makati.

Housing and residences

Many of the country's wealthiest families live in Forbes Park and Dasmariñas Village, on the other side of EDSA from the Central Business District. Other well-to-do people live in Urdaneta Village, San Antonio Village, San Lorenzo Village, Bel-Air, and Magallanes Village; others live in condominium and apartment units in the Central Business District in Salcedo and Legaspi Villages. These villages are not rural settlements, but gated communities. The usage probably arose because most villages correspond to barangays. Most of the poor residents of the city live in the city's periphery at Bangkal and especially in the eastern portions of Guadalupe, Rembo, Cembo, Pembo, and Comembo.

Housing, especially for the poor residents of the city, remains an acute problem. Many people in the provinces migrate to Metro Manila looking for better living. Subsequently, many of them end up squatting in many areas of the metropolis. In Makati, the squatters live in poor shanties along Pasig River and in the eastern areas.

Education, Culture, and Sports

Makati City is home to the Asian Institute of Management (AIM), which is the country's top graduate school for MBA students. AIM, located along Paseo de Roxas across Greenbelt is a collaborative project of the Ateneo de Manila University and De La Salle University, the top two private-run universities in the Philippines.

Other notable colleges and Universities in Makati are the Assumption College, Colegio de San Agustin, the University of Makati, and the Ateneo Professional Schools. The Ateneo Professional Schools, located at Rockwell Center, is a unit under the Ateneo de Manila University. Its famous school is the Ateneo Law School, which is one of the top law schools in the country. Assumption College, in San Lorenzo Village, is an all-female college. The University of Makati (officially, Pamantasan ng Makati) is a university run by the city government. Also, the Makati Science High School, a city-run high school, is the home of the brightest students in the Philippines, and ranked among the top 3 schools in the Philippines.

The Sta. Ana Racetrack, besides Pasig River in the northern part of the city, is one of the two centers of horseracing in the country. The other is in the San Lazaro Leisure Park in Carmona, Cavite. Along the south-eastern border of Makati beyond Forbes Park is the Manila Golf Club and the Manila Polo Club. The Manila Golf Club features an 18-hole golf course amidst the lush greenery of the city. The Manila Polo Club counts among its polo enthusiasts some of the country's wealthiest people. The Makati Sports Club in Salcedo Village is another popular place for sports people. The Makati Coliseum is another famous sports landmark in the city, where some of the biggest sports gatherings are held.

The Ayala Center also features among its shopping malls the Ayala Museum. This museum is most noted for its series of dioramas depicting major events in Philippine history, from the Battle of Mactan, to the EDSA Revolution.

Makati has many Spanish-era churches, such as the Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish and the Nuestra Señora de Gracia (Our Lady of Grace) Parish in the old town. At the Greenbelt park stands the modern-style domed chapel of the Sto. Niño de la Paz.

At the northern part of the city is the 25-hectare Manila South Cemetery. Every All Saints Day, thousands of people flock to the cemetery to pay their respects to their deceased loved ones.

Transportation

Makati is a short drive from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and the Manila Domestic Airport. Buses plying the Epifanio De los Santos Avenue (EDSA) route from Baclaran in Paranaque to Quezon City and Caloocan City pass through the Central Business District daily. Jeepneys ply Makati's inner roads, and connect the city to its surrounding towns and cities. The Mass Rail Transit (MRT-3) on EDSA has three stations located in Makati: Guadalupe, Buendia and Ayala Avenue.

Government

Like other cities in the Philippines, Makati City is governed by a Mayor and Vice mayor elected to three-year terms. The Mayor is the executive head and leads the city's departments in executing the city ordinances and improving public services. The Vice mayor heads a legislative council consisting of 10 members. The council is in charge of creating the city's policies.

Makati City, being a part of the Metro Manila region, has its mayor in the Metro Manila Council headed by the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA). This council formulates development plans that seeks to solve the problems and improve the conditions in the metropolis.

Makati city is divided into 33 barangays (the smallest local government units) which handles governance in a much smaller area. These barangays are grouped into two congressional districts where each district is represented by a congressman in the country's House of Representatives. Congressional District I occupies the western and modern half of the city, while District II covers the poorer half.

Mayors

1. Marcelino Magsaysay (1901-1903)
2. Eusebio Arpilleda (1903-1908)
3. Hermogenes Santos (1908-1911)
4. Urbano Navarro (1911-1913)
5. Jose Magsaysay (1913-1916)
6. Pedro Domingo (1917-1919)
7. Ricardo Arpilleda (1919-1920)
8. Nicanor Garcia (1922-1934)
9. Jose Villena (1935-1941)
10. Pablo Cortez (1945-1947)
11. Jose Villena (1948-1954)
12. Ignacio Babasa (1954)
13. Bernardo Umali (1954)
14. Maximo Estrella (1956-1969)
15. Jose Luciano (1969-1971)
16. Cesar Alzona (1971)
17. Nemesio I. Yabut (1972-1986)
18. Jejomar C. Binay (1986-1998)
19. Elenita S. Binay (1998-2001)
20. Jejomar C. Binay (2001-present)

External links

• Official website of the City of Makati (http://www.makati.gov.ph/)
• Official website of the Makati Science High School (http://www.makatiscience.edu.ph/)
• Official website of Fort Bonifacio High School (http://www.fbhs-makati.edu.ph/)

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