Bel-Air refers to both a private subdivision, a
gated community and a
barangay
A barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as barrio (abbreviated as Bo.), is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district, or ward. In metropolita ...
in
Makati
Makati ( ), officially the City of Makati ( fil, Lungsod ng Makati), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines.
Makati is the financial center of the Philippines; it has the highest concentration ...
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
. To the north the village itself is bound by Neptune, Anza, Orion, Mercedes and Amapola Streets.
Estrella Street
Estrella Street is a short stretch of road (less than 1 kilometer in length) that travels north–south through Rockwell Center in Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines. It runs from its intersection with Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA), connecte ...
on the northeast,
Epifanio de los Santos Avenue
Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, commonly referred to by its acronym EDSA, is a limited-access circumferential highway around Manila, the capital city of the Philippines. It passes through 6 of Metro Manila's 17 local government units or citie ...
on the southeast, Jupiter Street on the southwest and
Nicanor Garcia Street
Nicanor Garcia Street, historically known as ''Calle Reposo'' or Reposo Street, is a street running for several hundred meters north of Gil Puyat Avenue in Bel-Air Village, Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines. It crosses Jupiter Street/Metropolitan A ...
(formerly Reposo) on the northwest. It encompasses a total land area of and is shaped roughly like a tobacco pipe. Bel-Air Village was developed in four phases. There are 950 lots, thirty-two streets and two well-developed parks in Phases II and III, each with covered badminton/basketball courts. Makati Avenue separates Phase II from the rest of the subdivision.
The village is managed by the Bel-Air Village Association (BAVA) and comprises only a portion of Barangay Bel-Air, which now includes Ayala North,
Gil Puyat Avenue (Buendia Avenue), the
Ayala Triangle and the entire Salcedo Village. The current Barangay Captain is Constancia Lichauco.
History
In the early part of the 20th century, the area currently occupied by Bel-Air Village was part of the former Nielson Airport at
Nielson Field
Nielson Field (Luzon, the Philippines) was the location of the Far East Air Force headquarters. Most of the aircraft of the FEAF were based at either Clark Field or Nichols Field. The cultural site was an ''Honourable Mention'' in the 2001 UNES ...
on the old Hacienda de San Pedro Macati, then part of the province of
Rizal. At that time, this airport and the Grace Park Airfield in
Caloocan
Caloocan, officially the City of Caloocan ( fil, Lungsod ng Caloocan; ), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in Metropolitan Manila, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 1,661,584 people making it the fourth-most ...
were the only commercial flight servers of
Manila
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...
.
The runways of Nielson Airport were wide and
macadamized roads that are now the major thoroughfares known as
Ayala Avenue and
Paseo de Roxas
Paseo de Roxas is a prime commercial artery in the Makati Central Business District of Metro Manila, Philippines. It is a two- to six-lane avenue that cuts through the middle of the business district connecting San Lorenzo Village in the west to B ...
.
Philippine Airlines
Philippine Airlines (PAL), a trade name of PAL Holdings, Inc. (Philippine Stock Exchange, PSEPAL (Philippine Air Lines until 1970), is the flag carrier airline of the Philippines. Headquartered at the Philippine National Bank, PNB Financial Cen ...
, which was then owned by Don
Andres Soriano, Sr., operated domestic flights from Manila to
Baguio
Baguio ( ,
), officially the City of Baguio ( ilo, Siudad ti Baguio; fil, Lungsod ng Baguio), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines. It is known as the "Summer Capital of the Philippines", ...
and
Paracale
Paracale, officially the Municipality of Paracale ( tl, Bayan ng Paracale), is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Camarines Norte, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 60,198 people.
Paracle’s economy is ...
, with 9-passenger twin engine planes flown by American pilots.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, the airport was taken over first by the
United States Far East Air Force
The Far East Air Force (FEAF) was the military aviation organization of the United States Army in the Philippines just prior to and at the beginning of World War II. Formed on 16 November 1941, FEAF was the predecessor of the Fifth Air Force of ...
, halting all commercial flights. The airport was later sequestered and converted into Japanese military headquarters during the
Japanese occupation. After the liberation of Manila, control of the airport reverted to the Americans. All services were restored between 1945–46 and continued until 1948, when the U.S. Air Force turned
Nichols Field
Nichols Field was a U.S. military airfield located south of Manila in Pasay and Parañaque, Metro Manila, Luzon, the Philippines. The complex is located at Andrews Avenue by the north, Domestic Road by the west, NAIA Road and Ninoy Aquino Avenu ...
over to the Philippine government. President
Manuel Roxas
Manuel Acuña Roxas (born Manuel Roxas y Acuña; ; January 1, 1892 – April 15, 1948) was a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the fifth president of the Philippines, who served from 1946 until his death due to heart attacks in 19 ...
then transferred all commercial air operations from Nielson to Nichols, despite the intense lobbying of the Ayalas and Sorianos.
This move was the most significant turning point in the development of the
Ayala
Ayala may refer to:
Places
* Ciudad Ayala, Morelos, Mexico
* Ayala Alabang, a barangay in Muntinlupa, Philippines
* Ayala Avenue, a major thoroughfare in the Makati Central Business District, Philippines
* Ayala, Magalang, a barrio in Magalang ...
-owned property. Col. Joseph McMicking, the husband of Doña Mercedes de Ayala, who was at the time the major shareholder of the Ayala Corporation, had visualized a future financial, business and commercial center with residential villages occupying periphery of the now vacant Nielson Airport. In the early 1950s, Col. McMicking lured Manila's influential entrepreneurs and business leaders to move their residences to
Forbes Park at a land price of only eight pesos per square meter. These financial luminaries later built their corporate headquarters along Ayala Avenue and Paseo de Roxas. San Lorenzo Village was subsequently developed in 1954 for the executives and the upper middle class.
In 1956, the Philippine Airlines Pilots Union (ALPAP), composed of over two hundred former
Philippine Air Force and
U.S. Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...
pilots, requested a subdivision from the Ayala Corporation. Through the efforts of Capt. Antonio O'Brien, who was then the President of ALPAP, and with the support of his friend Col. McMicking, Phase I of Bel-Air Village was opened in 1957 at the price of fifteen pesos per square meter for pilots and thirty pesos per square meter for non-pilots. Bel-Air Village officially became the third subdivision to be developed by the Ayala Corporation. Capt. O'Brien chose the name Bel-Air as the pilots wanted a name that included the word "air."
Other than the Rizal Theatre at the corner of Makati and Ayala Avenues, there was not a single building along the avenues of Buendia, Paseo de Roxas, Makati and Ayala. After seeing the vast area of ''
cogon
''Imperata cylindrica'' (commonly known as cogongrass or kunai grass ) is a species of perennial rhizomatous grass native to tropical and subtropical Asia, Micronesia, Melanesia, Australia, Africa, and southern Europe. It has also been introduce ...
'' and ''
talahib'' abundant in the area, only 100 pilots signed up and about 50-odd pilots erected houses. Others sold their rights at a handsome profit.
From the first house and residence of Capt. Charlie Deen at 2 Polaris Street corner Mars Street in Phase I, Bel-Air Village later blossomed into four phases with over 900 home owners. Ms. Judith Deen, the widow of the first resident, and her siblings still live at their 1957 house, while the widow of Capt. O'Brien, the former Philippine film actress known as
Paraluman
Sigrid Sophia Agatha de Torres von Giese, better known by her screen name Paraluman (December 14, 1923 – April 27, 2009), was an award-winning Filipina German actress. Her contemporaries include the likes of Fernando Poe, Sr. and Carmen Rosal ...
, just recently moved out of their house at Polaris Street.
Bel-Air Village was incorporated and registered with the
Securities and Exchange Commission in 1957. The subdivision's deed restrictions for residential lots have remained in force since January 15, 1957. These restrictions officially expired in 2007, but were renewed by votation and extended for another twenty-five years.
Community Services
The Bel-Air Village Community Center is located on 40 Solar Street, adjacent to the BAVA office, the Bel-Air Security Headquarters and Bel-Air III Park. The Community Center hosts a clinic, the Bel-Air Post Office Extension, the Bel-Air Fitness Gym, and two function rooms for the use of village residents in good standing. Gym membership is open to residents and their visitors, with corresponding fees. Two covered badminton/basketball courts are located at the parks on Juno and Hercules Streets in Bel-Air II and on Solar Street in Bel-Air III.
Barangay Bel-Air offers other extension services such as free ambulance service through Lifeline Arrows, and the Continuing Education Program for English Proficiency for household help, security and maintenance personnel, in cooperation with the
Department of Education
An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...
and the
Mapua Institute of Technology Mapua, Māpua, or Mapúa may refer to:
* Mapuá River, a river in the Pará state of north-central Brazil
*Māpua, New Zealand, a small town on the South Island of New Zealand
*Mapúa University, a tertiary institute in Manila, Philippines
*Tomás M ...
. More subjects like math and science will be offered in the future, in line with
Makati
Makati ( ), officially the City of Makati ( fil, Lungsod ng Makati), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines.
Makati is the financial center of the Philippines; it has the highest concentration ...
's Non-Formal Education Program.
Recognition
As of 2005, Bel-Air was proclaimed the Cleanest and Greenest Barangay, Cluster I in the City of Makati, for the eighth record-breaking consecutive year. As a result, the barangay has been inducted into
Makati
Makati ( ), officially the City of Makati ( fil, Lungsod ng Makati), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines.
Makati is the financial center of the Philippines; it has the highest concentration ...
's Clean and Green Hall of Fame.
Culture
Bel-Air Village's Pasinaya, which means thanksgiving, has been held annually since 1993 as a way of fostering community spirit and promoting camaraderie among its residents. The yearly celebration usually consists of a variety of events held during the month of April at the Bel-Air Phase III Park, featuring various food stalls, bazaars, entertainment, games and ''perya'' rides.
During the rest of the year, cultural events are organized to provide entertainment for the residents. For example, the ''Night of Music'' concert held on 16 February 2007 at the Bel-Air Multipurpose Court featured the Four Seasons Chamber Orchestra with Maestro Ali Delilah. This concert was presented in cooperation with the Italian Embassy, the Makati city government, the Department of Tourism and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts; sponsored by the Cultural Center of the Philippines and the Women of Bel-Air.
References
*BAVA Handbook (2006)
*Bel-Air Village Association Website
*Barangay Bel-Air Website
Makati City Government joins Barangay Bel-Air in ‘Pasinaya 2004’335th "Araw Ng Makati" Celebration Begins With Pasinaya 2005
External links
{{Metro Manila populated places
Barangays of Metro Manila
Makati
Districts in Metro Manila
Gated communities in Metro Manila