BGC as portal

A “Manila Portal” was unveiled in January providing 24/7 video feed connecting to five other “portals” around the world. It was the project’s first location in Asia aimed at building a “a living bridge towards a more connected world” The project hailed “Manila’s cultural depth, warmth and character” which “strengthens the shared vision” symbolized by the portals.

Interestingly, the exact location of the “Manila Portal” was on 5^th Avenue of the Bonifacio Global City. But BGC is neither in Manila nor is it a city.  That it is elevated into something that can represent the country’s capital city underscores its rapid transformation from a military camp known as Fort Bonifacio into a premier financial and business center.

Perhaps there were access, safety, and security considerations, but making Taguig’s BGC the “Manila Portal” was still a peculiar choice. No one raised an issue with it, which reflects BGC’s popularity among the local population.

BGC was described as a “forward-looking urban center and a platform for innovative cultural and civic initiatives.” It was praised for its “modern infrastructure, walkable urban design, and commitment to public art and culture.”

Is this accurate? Perhaps it can be affirmed by expats living in the enclave, tourists in search of curated spaces in the Metropolis, and the wealthy landlords who secured the prime real estate facilitated by corrupt politicians.

For the minimum wage workers, call center employees during the graveyard shift, and even visitors of BGC, should they be grateful for the walkable streets even if public transport is tangential in the supposedly well-planned modern hub? BGC’s “safe” streets are so tightly guarded that rallies are quickly and brutally dispersed by private security thugs, even if protests are held in front of government agencies and embassies. It is ironic that BGC, the new address of the affluent classes, is named after Andres Bonifacio, the country’s plebian hero who led the uprising against the Spanish colonial government.

Perhaps BGC’s appeal as the urban destination of the elite is similar to the status enjoyed by Intramuros during the Spanish colonial era and Forbes Park, the home of old money and the nouveau riche.

Intramuros, the walled city of old Manila, was the seat of power for three centuries, and a military fortress that hosted the Spanish rulers and their families. Meanwhile, Forbes Park has been the exclusive subdivision of the country’s elite.

BGC shares an affinity with both old Intramuros and Forbes Park as a community built to provide sanctuary for the powerful, famous, and ultra-rich. Maybe BGC deserves to be called the “Manila Portal” after all.

It may be argued that compared to old Intramuros and Forbes Park, BGC is open to the public because it has no walls and gates that stop people from entering and leaving it. Indeed, what it lacks in physical barriers is compensated for by ubiquitous 24/7 CCTV cameras and private armed guards patrolling the area. Who needs high walls and electric fences if access is already restricted by car-centric pathways, expensive rents, and community spaces divorced from the basic and everyday interests of ordinary Filipinos? It claims to be open and welcoming, but this is what makes it more intimidating, cold, and artificial. The structures of oppression are obscured by the clean streets and dazzling neon lights that mimic the allure of global cities, even if it’s cheap outsourcing labor and exploitative gig work that enable BGC companies and investors to funnel their super profits to offshore accounts and the home base of multinational corporations.

BGC does not embody the cultural riches of Manila society or a typical community exhibiting the mild chaos caused by the mixture of classes and varied social interests. If it were a more sincere branding, we should call BCG a portal of urban inequality and inefficiency in city planning in the Philippines.

*Mong Palatino is the secretary general of Bayan and former representative of Kabataan Partylist.

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