High-density plan upsets Alabang communities

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It was bound to happen with Metro Manila already bursting at the seams and residents still wanting to stay within the already over-crowded metropolis, but moving further to the south in Muntinlupa — particularly the Alabang Hills and Hillsborough area, which are mostly single-family-owned residential units.

The area is easily accessible through the South Luzon Expressway or SLEX, exiting through Sucat to the access road and turning right to Don Jesus Boulevard in Cupang, Muntinlupa.

Alabang Hills, which was initially developed by former Manila Mayor Ramon Bagatsing in the 1970s and was initially offered to members of the Manila Police Force and to the Benedictine brothers, has over the years quietly appreciated, with some properties now valued as high a P50 million.

Among its well-known residents are Butch Campos, eldest son of Unilab founder Jose Yao Campos and Rep. Bienvenido “Benny” Abante Jr.

The original Benedictine Abbey School, or BAS, is now known as San Beda College Alabang and has had its own expansion plans curtailed by opposition from its residential neighbors in Alabang Hills, who have also complained and pushed back on the free access into the community of vehicles bringing and picking up students from the school, creating unwanted traffic congestion and disturbance in the village at certain hours.

Alabang Hills is fortunate to have early on secured alternative access to exits to the Alabang Zapote Road and through BF Homes.

The Alabang Hills Village Association and San Beda College are still locked in a legal dispute over the right being claimed by the Benedictine brothers to issue their own car pass access to the village.

AHVA has imposed a P2,500 fee for non-resident car stickers.

The latest controversy stirring up residents of not just Alabang Hills and Hillsborough (which itself was a co-development project with the Campos-led Greenfield Development Corp. or GDC) and other various gated subdivisions in the area is the rumored plans to embark on high-density development in the area.

Residents are, thus, upset and ready to oppose rumored plans by the GDC to go into vertical high-rise development of their vast land-holdings in Muntinlupa.

GDC has not made any official announcement over its development plans for its properties in the area.

Some of the reasons against the development involve the loss of wildlife habitat for birds and the cutting down of trees, and of course, increased traffic congestion as a result of more residents in the future in the area with the townhouse development and possibly high-rise condominiums.

Residents who are opposed to the high-density development are using the same argument about the encroachment of high-rise developers to what have been classified as low-density subdivisions, similar to the complaint filed by Greenhills residents against a developer’s attempt to build a high-rise mixed-use building project in Greenhills East Subdivision in Ortigas.

GDC, is under the control of Jeffrey Campos, younger brother of Butch.

According to chatter within the communities of Alabang Hills, Hillsborough, and a number of smaller gated subdivisions in the area, GDC has started negotiating for right-of-way to build road access to their land from the various gated communities to be able to finally develop some of their landlocked properties.

It was under the leadership of Jose Y. Campos in the 1980s when GDC acquired vast tracks of land in Muntinlupa. It was also around that time that Hillsborough, which is landlocked, was co-developed by Greenfield.

According to concerned residents, they are particularly concerned about initial plans of GDC to reportedly go into high-density development of townhouses, and eventually of high-rise condominiums similar to what Greenfield has built in Pasig.

Unfortunately, rumors of high-rise developments are also spreading to Ayala Alabang following the takeover by Rockwell Land of the Alabang Town Center from Ayala Land, Inc.

Sources say that at least two of the parking lots around the ATC are being eyed for redevelopment as high-rise buildings that would overlook Ayala Alabang.

A similar high-rise development plan in Makati beside a private subdivision in the past was able to, successfully block high-rise construction beside EDSA.

Travel disruptions

Similar to land access, we are now clearly seeing that even air access can lead to unwanted economic consequences following the attack by the US and Israel on Iran that has now unfortunately disrupted travel plans for those who were planning to go to Europe via the Middle East route.

Our Philippine carrier, Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific have already suspended all of their flights to Dubai and consequently from Dubai to Manila for the time being to ensure the safety of travellers

For most Filipinos, travel to Europe is now mostly through Middle Eastern airlines such as Emirates, Etihad or Qatar, as our own flag carrier Philippine Airlines, and Gokongwei-owned rival Cebu Pacific - still do not find it viable to operate such routes with the low volume of traffic.

It was interesting to see an Instagram post of actress Anne Curtis, who was traveling with her family to Dubai, showing a high-speed aircraft crossing their flight path to Dubai, after which she narrated, the pilot immediately announced that they were returning to the Philippines.

Likewise, Sam Chui, an aviation and travel vlogger also showed a drone attack on the Kuwait airport terminal, highlighting the danger of any air travel passing through Middle East flight paths for the time being.

News from CNN also showed various attacks in Dubai and Doha.

So, for the time being, stick to Asian destinations or better yet, just head to our beaches, Baguio, or visit new provinces you’ve never been to and explore.

Unfortunately, we will still have to see what this new turmoil will do to the global economy and to our own economy.