Barangay Pinagkaisahan, Makati City

INTRODUCTION

Pinagkaisahan is characterized as gradually sloping downwards from the west towards the northeast, where a creek (Balisampan) cuts across the barangay. Inner parts of the barangay are mostly residential while alongside EDSA are classified commercial. Pinagkaisahan, by clustering, is in District II under the North Central Cluster along with Guadalupe Nuevo, South Cembo, Post Proper Southside, and Pitogo. Also, the barangay boasts its proximity in two (2) Central Business Districts – Ayala and the Bonifacio Global City.

 

The population count as per 2010 Census of Population is 5,804, with approximately 1,161 households at 5 household size. The average population density of the barangay is estimated at 36 per 1,000 square meters considering a land area of 0.1603 square kilometers.

 

 

HISTORY

In 1916, the Jesuit Fathers who owned the Guadalupe Estate raised the rental of their property so much that most of the tenants made a decision to leave the place and settle in the nearby hilly region beyond the streetcar's (tranvia) makeshift bridge. The region which was largely uninhabited was owned by the Ayala y Cia. By bayanihan the unified move was effected, thus the named PINAGKAISAHAN. It was the decision of families, the first wave of settlers which included the ancestors of the Payongayongs, Legardas, Angeleses, Castros, Santa Anas, Pimentels, Bandillas, Sacapinis, Baldues and Perezes. Waves of other settlers followed, many coming from families of enlisted men from the nearby military camp, Fort William McKinley.

The Ayala y Cia paid a little attention to the newly settled hacienda that the settler fenced as much as he wanted for his home lot, as long as he paid the monthly rental set by the Ayala collector. As a result, Pinagkaisahan was a jigsaw of fenced lots of varying dimensions.

The original settlers informally designated the tranvia's bridge between the military reservation and Pinagkaisahan as the barrio's eastern boundary. The southern boundary was the Pasay McKinley Road. On the west, it was the street car's twin sliding while the stream going into the kaingin region now Estrella St. of Guadalupe Viejo was the northern boundary. By 1940, the Ayala y Cia has completed its cadastral survey of its property and executed Plan B of Pinagkaisahan which in effect extended the barrio northward. It was at about the time that the national government made its plans known for a major road which will cut through the forest and cogon grass fields west of the settlement, said road to be known later as Highway 54.

The Barrio survived the early part of the Japanese occupation despite its proximity to the army camp, Fort William McKinley. This was because the army hastily left the camp for Bataan in December 30, 1941, saving the surroundings including the barrio from hostilities. Even as the war raged, folks who fled to Manila and the surrounding provinces hiked back to Pinagkaisahan to tend their rice fields. However in almost all places occupied by the Japanese, all stocks of rice, eggs, mangoes and bananas in the barrio were routinely confiscated by the invaders, leaving the folks with root crops like camote, cassava, taro roots and vegetables, which they plant in all available lots and gardens.

However, as the war went on, Pinagkaisahan suffered deaths and losses among many of its menfolks many of whom were killed or wounded in other places. In 1942, several thatched roofs were burned. The 1945 Japanese surrender and Liberation found the central part of Pinagkaisahan burned down. It was written that in the liberation of Manila in 1945, the Japanese retreated to outskirts of Manila. As the war drew to a close, the fall and destruction fell on Makati. The Japanese vented their wrath on the barrios of Guadalupe and Pinagkaisahan, killing everyone in sight and everything in their path. With the wanton destruction the barrio folks faced major reconstruction problems.

After the war, Ayala y Cia turned the southeastern part of its property into present Manila Golf Club. Later on the southwest rice fields were graded and became North Forbes Park. The National Government's Highway 54 (later renamed Epifanio de los Santos Ave. or EDSA) was completed. All these developments found several original families dislocated/relocated to other places in the barrio. These developments also defined present boundaries of Pinagkaisahan.

 

The post war years even found the bayanihan spirit amongst the barrio folks more intense, probably because of the unifying experience they had during the Japanese occupation. Its elders among them Sacapinio, Manansala, Cuao, etc. requested Ayala y Cia for lot where the Barrio can build a shrine for the Lady of Immaculate Conception. It was granted. Once more Pinagkaisahan had a chapel at the corner of the then Merced and Native streets. This signaled the barrio's return starting with the yearly celebration of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception complete with a parade of beauties, and culminating in drama and stage performance.