Barangay Poblacion, Makati City

INTRODUCTION

Barangay Poblacion belongs to Makati City's first district and a member of the Northwest Cluster or Cluster 3 of Makati. Poblacion has a total land area of 1,034,200 sq.m., that is 3.80% of the total land area of Makati. 3.20% or 17,120 of Makati residents live in Poblacion, or 17 residents per 1,000 square meters.

 

Barangay Poblacion is the first settlement of the City of Makati.  In fact, when one mentions San Pedro Makati during the pre-war period, it indicated Barangay Poblacion.  Since it was the original community of the town, it became the center of the local government and has remained as such, today.

 

Barangay Poblacion is also known as Makati’s Heritage District.  In 2006 and 2007, local and foreign urban planning consultants and other public and private sector partners conducted a Cultural Mapping Report of the Heritage of Poblacion last, through the grant of Instituto Cervantes Spanish Program for Cultural Cooperation.

 

However, based on its existing land use, Poblacion is still predominantly a commercial area. It houses the upscale mixed-use development - Rockwell Center and A. Venue Event Mall. 

HISTORY

Barangay Poblacion is the first settlement of the City of Makati.  In fact, when you mentioned San Pedro Makati during the pre-war period, it indicated Barangay Poblacion.  Since it was the original community of the town, it became the center of the local government and has remained as such today. 

 

In 1620 the San Pedro Church was built by the Jesuits as the center of the Catholic Faith of then San Pedro Macati.  The residents corrupted this name to “Sampiro” and used this moniker to refer to both the church and the town.  When the Jesuits were expelled from all Spanish territories in the 18th Century, the Spanish government confiscated all their properties which included San Pedro Macati.  This began the turnover of the land from one owner to another until the Zobel de Ayala-Roxas family began its modern development during the latter part of the 19th Century. 

 

Official records show that the first Municipal President of Makati was its illustrious son who hails from Poblacion, Marcelino Magsaysay.  Most of the succeeding Municipal Presidents or Mayors were likewise bonafide constituents of Poblacion namely: Eusebio Arpilleda, Hermogenes Santos, Urbano Navarro, Jose Magsaysay, Pedro Domingo, Ricardo Arpilleda, Nicanor Garcia, Jose Villena and Maximo Estrella.

 

The first Municipal Builiding called the Presidencia was built in 1918 in the middle of Poblacion at Plaza Trece de Agosto, now J.P. Rizal Street.  It is now occupied by the Museo ng Makati.  In 1961, then Mayor Estrella ordered the construction of a new municipal building in its present site which was donated by the Ayala Land, Inc.  In the early years of the 21st Century, Mayor Jejomar Binay instituted the high-rise 22-storey City Hall of Makati, making Poblacion as the center of Makati’s government then and now. 

 

Although Poblacion has kept its old-world charm, it has also embraced modernity and economic development with the presence of a number of commercial establishments in the area, specifically along the main thoroughfares of J.P. Rizal, Makati Ave., P. Burgos and Kalayaan, the Rockwell Center, the A. Venue Mall and Suites and the upcoming development by Century Properties in the old site of the International School called the Century City.