Arca South – just about ready

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February 20, 2026 | 12:00am

It has been almost 14 years since Ayala Land Inc. successfully bid and acquired in 2012 ownership of 74 hectares of the Marcos-era created  Food Terminal Inc. or FTI,  which originally covered an expansive 120 hectares at the outskirts of Metro Manila going south to Laguna and Batangas.

The once envisioned agricultural complex in Taguig was initially intended to help Filipino farmers consolidate and help distribute their production more efficiently and help stabilize prices and support farmers. It was formally known in 1968 as the Greater Manila Terminal Food Market or GMTFM under the administration of the elder president Ferdinand Marcos Sr.  It was eventually renamed Food Terminal Inc. in 1974

The facility was intended to consolidate food distribution by allowing farmers to bring their produce to the Greater Metro Manila area in a centrally located area just south of Manila, thus avoiding to contribute to the increasing traffic in the metropolis.

Of course, to the current generations of Mega Manilans, the traffic that they know now is horrendous, taking hours of their time sitting in their vehicles along with thousands of other vehicles. But per my recollection as a Baby Boomer at that time, getting from Metro Manila to the south via the old National Highway was an excursion because going to Laguna or to Tagaytay was already a whole day affair and it was almost always necessary to pack a picnic basket  as it would take almost half a day to get there, hence the need for some packed food, and getting back to the city would see most of the children sleeping on the lap of their elders, tired and worn out from the day trip.

Today, going south to Laguna or Tagaytay is a quick half-day trip for lunch and back with our three to four lane expressways. But in the late 1960s to early 1970s, just before the South Superhighway was completed in 1969, Taguig was already considered far and out of town.

Today, Taguig is within the heart of Mega Manila. The glittering Bonifacio Global City Center is the place to be, giving the Makati Commercial Center and Ayala Avenue strong competition, with BGC’s electronic  billboard displays drawing  crowds from all over Mega Manila and beyond.

However, ALI is now  about ready to step up the game to attract more visitors south to Western Bicutan, Taguig – that densely populated community occupied  initially by families of military men in former military land and now also with a significant Muslim community – truly a huge consumer market waiting to be tapped.

Slowly and quietly, ALI has been transforming the 74 hectares of the FTI it acquired  in 2012 when the government decided to privatize the former FTI facilities. Early on, ALI had posted banners announcing the birth of Arca South, attracting early investors for its planned mixed-used commercial and business community.

It started with the commercial buildings to attract support companies that could not quite afford the high prices of Makati and BGC. It has likewise built mid-rise residential buildings similar to its upscale Serendra property, and has also opened a specialized medical facility.

If you had been observant over the years as you passed by C5 Road, you would have gradually noticed the rise of office towers from the high point of C5 near McKinley as it dipped toward Heritage Park and Maria Tinga Road. You would also have seen the early  construction of the currently stranded portion of  SMC Infrastructure Corp.’s 32.66-kilometer South Metro Manila Expressway (SEMME) that  is  part of the Skyway Stage 4 that will connect to Western Rizal.

Just as quietly, several companies have been operating in Arca South and residential mid-rise towers have been completed and are now being turned over to early buyers. AC Health, at the end of 2023, opened in its Healthway Cancer Center and I was still then invited to attend the opening and see the facilities for myself.

Over the years, I have been visiting the old FTI facilities and even after the takeover by Ayala, because of the small weekend market and have, thus, been aware of Ayala’s developments. Since I also frequent BGC, I have noticed how many residents from Taguig flock to BGC, but are somehow intimidated by the upscale crowd, often complaining in social media about what they perceive is discrimination against them, especially for the sometimes admittedly rowdy and dangerous skate boarders who enjoy the wide pavements of the commercial area.

The Market! Market! Shopping Center, in fact, caters to the mid-market residents of Taguig. But its pending redevelopment and bidding is sure to displace the vibrant mid-market vendors and sellers once the shopping center is torn down in 2027.

But just recently, in time for Valentine’s Day 2026 and as a teaser of what is yet to come to truly welcome more economic activity to Arca South, Ayala Malls decided to do a soft opening last Feb. 13 for its newest mall just before Valentine Day, with a few select mid-price restaurants and tiangge stalls.

There are basically two separate malls connected by a bridgeway and a connecting open outdoor area that are still in the finishing stages of development. But it is clear to see that when Market! Market! closes for redevelopment, Ayala Malls is ready to take up the market that it has already developed in BGC for the potentially lucrative mid-market consumers of Bicutan and Taguig.

In fact, in the quick visit of the partially opened Arca South Mall, I overheard janitors complaining that “binaha tayo ng tao!” – clearly impressed by the curiosity of the crowd who were so eager to see a mall that they could truly call their own instead of having to go to BGC.