Announcement : MVRB 2Q General Membership Meeting and Fellowship

Marikina Valley Real Estate Board Inc. (MVRB) 

2nd Quarter General Membership Meeting 
and Fellowship

The heat is on at MVRB!

It's summertime fun and fellowship for 

MVRB's members and friends. 

MVRB RESAR 2013 PRC Real Estate Broker Board Passers and 

Top-notchers will be honored during the occasion.

Venue : Jade Palace Restaurant

106 Shaw Blvd, Kapitolyo, Pasig City.

(Beside China Bank)

Date : May 4, 2013

Time : 5:00 to 10:00 P.M. 

Please Contact :

Beth (MVRB Office Secretary) at 

0922-6100516

to confirm attendance 

Jade Palace Restaurant along Shaw Blvd, Kapitolyo, Pasig

Location Map of Jade Palace Restaurant

View Larger Map

Photo Source :
https://plus.google.com/100981631264450322883/about?hl=en

Places : Intramuros - Reminiscing at the Walled City

Last January I attended a symposium at a school located inside the walled district of Manila: Intramuros. Intramuros is the old walled Spanish city-fortress from where the city of Manila originated. The walls were built by the Spaniards in the late sixteenth century to protect them  from marauding Chinese pirates and other foreign invaders coming from the Manila Bay. The walled city used to be surrounded by a moat. Intramuros is one of Manila's main tourist attractions. Inside Intramuros are schools and universities, parks and gardens, churches and convents, museums, government and private offices, restaurants and shops, hotels and some private residential houses. Most of the buildings and churches have Filipino-Spanish architectures and designs. The preserved old buildings, churches, monuments, cobblestone paved streets and "calesas" or horse-drawn carriages make Intramuros looks like one of the old cities of Europe. 

I studied at one of the schools located inside Intramuros, and seeing the place again after a long time made me reminisce the good times I had spent inside the walls of Intramuros during my school days.  Here are some pictures I took of one portion of the walled city and its peripheral areas during my last visit. 

Comment : Whoever is responsible in maintaining the cleanliness of Intramuros is not doing a good job. Some parts of the walled city are scattered with litters. Considering that Intramuros is located right in front of the City Hall of Manila and being the city's prime tourist spot, it should be well-maintained. 

Click photo to enlarge

The Manila's Walled City : Intramuros

Picture Source :

https://www.facebook.com/OfficialIntramurosAdministration

Rants : Chinese Ambassador Apologizes for Chinese Embassy First Secretary's Blunder

H.E. Ambassador Ma Keqing of China

Having lived and worked in China in the early '90s, I have a very good impression of the Chinese people. The Chinese I had met during my stay there were very humble, hospitable and happy people. I think these good qualities are inherent of the Chinese people and its culture.

But recently, the news I have been reading about Chinese expatriates give a different picture of their character and behavior. Did I get a wrong impression about the Chinese people during my stay in China? Or did they have a reversal of values because of the prosperity and wealth they have now.

Last year, there was a news about a Chinese expatriate driving a Ferrari that drove thru a red light signal in Singapore causing his death and the death of a Singaporean cab driver and a Japanese passenger. The Chinese national involved in the accident was not an ordinary laborer but a financial adviser, which means that he was a highly educated person. The accident created a backlash on mainland Chinese expatriates living in Singapore. The Chinese embassy's "first secretary" in Singapore had to apologize on behalf of the mainland Chinese expatriates' behavior.

Two weeks ago, another road accident happened involving a mainland Chinese expatriate, this time in Manila. A Chinese diplomat by the name of Wang Ben bumped the car in front of him. The car he rear-ended happened to be the car of the MMDA(Metro Manila Development Authority) Chairman Francis Tolentino. According to report, "Wang, who appeared to be drunk, showed a photocopy of his ID and then suddenly drove off in the middle of their exchange, Tolentino said"[1]. Chairman Tolentino gave chase but lost him. It was a good thing that nobody got hurt when the Chinese diplomat drove and sped off, it would have been another big diplomatic problem between the Philippines and China.

The Chinese diplomat involved in the accident was the Chinese embassy's first secretary. A few days after the incident, the Chinese ambassador apologized to the MMDA Chairman for the incident. The irony of  the matter is that the Chinese embassy's first secretary would normally be the one apologizing on behalf of misbehaving Chinese citizens in a host country, like what happened in Singapore last year. But this time it was the Chinese ambassador H.E. Ma Keqing herself, apologizing on behalf of the Chinese embassy's "first secretary".

Why couldn't the Chinese embassy's first secretary Wang Ben apologize by himself to MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino? Why the need for the Chinese ambassador to apologize for Mr.Wang's traffic violations and his disrespect of a Philippine government official? As a diplomat, he is covered by diplomatic immunity and won't be penalized, so why the fear of owning up his blunder? Anyway, the humble gesture by the Chinese ambassador was accepted and very much appreciated by MMDA Chairman for him to forgive and forget the incident.

I wish diplomats like Mr. Wang Ben be transferred to Afghanistan for posting.
I am sure China does not tolerate abusive behavior from its diplomats abroad, specially from a high ranking officer like an embassy's "first secretary".

I hope my good impression of the Chinese people remains a good one.

Picture source and related link :
Click link below to know about H.E. Ambassador Ma Keqing of China :
http://ph.china-embassy.org/eng/sgxx/dsjl/
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/390057/chinese-ambassador-says-sorry-to-mmda-chief-over-car-bump [1]

History : Friar Lands and The Friar Lands Act

Hacienda de Mandaloyon

Trivia :

"The Hacienda de Mandaloyon originally formed part of the estate holdings of the Augustinian Order. The property covered an area of 4,033 hectares. On January 20, 1920, the Augustinian Fathers sold this property to Dr. Frank W. Dudley and Don Francisco Ortigas. Hacienda de Mandaloyon, spanned the municipalities that are now known as Mandaluyong, San Juan, Pasig & Quezon City."

Source : http://www.ortigas.com.ph/about.html

I still vividly recall one of the questions when I took the Real Estate Broker Exam, it was about "friar lands". It was one of the hardest question during the exam. During our review class then, our lecturer  mentioned the term "friar lands"once or twice, but never thoroughly discussed it. It was just a minor subject on real estate terminology. 

Through the years as a real estate practitioner, I have often encountered the term "friar lands" because many of the real estate properties in the Philippines used to be classified as such. And what is interesting is that there are vast references in our history about  the subject. In fact, it was one of the reasons of Filipino revolts and insurrections during the Spanish period. And for this reason the subject should be given more importance and thoroughly discussed in real estate seminars and in Philippine history classes in our schools. But sometimes, the subject of "friar lands"is a contentious and sensitive matter to discuss considering that it involves discussing the past abuses of the Catholic Church and the origin of its landholdings.

The Augustinians, Dominicans, Jesuits and other religious orders were all holders, administrators and owners of vast tracts of land in different parts of the country during the Spanish colonial period. Some of these lands were given to them by the Spanish government and landed Catholics, others they bought and some were taken and possessed by them in very questionable ways, i.e. land grabbing by the friars. They owned estates comprising thousands of hectares. Most of these lands were agricultural and tilled by native Filipinos who themselves did not owned lands. Some of these religious orders were practically landlords during the Spanish colonial period.

These "friar lands" or church lands were a big problem when the Americans took administration of the Philippine Islands. The Americans had to make arrangements with the Holy See to discuss the status of these parcels of lands and estates, and offered to purchase them. Eventually, the friars were forced to sell these lands to the Americans, and these real properties became part of government administered lands classified as "friar lands". A special classification under the Act 1120 (of the Congress of the United States) or "The Friar Land Act".

These "friar lands" also became a source of corruption of some of the American administrators. Some of these lands were transferred to individuals who were not citizens and residents of the country, and some were sold to companies not registered in the Philippines. These acts by the American administrators were in violation of the existing laws at the time.

Below is the salient feature of Act 1120(of the Congress of the United Stares) or The Friar Lands Act :

ACT NO. 1120

"AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE ADMINISTRATION AND TEMPORARY LEASING AND SALE OF CERTAIN HACIENDAS AND PARCELS OF LAND, COMMONLY KNOWN AS FRIAR LANDS, FOR THE PURCHASE OF WHICH THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS HAS RECENTLY CONTRACTED, PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF SECTIONS SIXTY-THREE, SIXTY-FOUR AND SIXTY-FIVE OF AN ACT OF THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES, ENTITLED “AN ACT TEMPORARILY TO PROVIDE FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE AFFAIRS OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES,” APPROVED ON THE FIRST DAY OF JULY, NINETEEN HUNDRED AND TWO"

To study and know about "friar lands" would give us Filipinos, particularly the real estate  practitioners, a better understanding of our history, and the real estate and urban development of our country.

Sources and related links:
http://philippinelaw.info/statutes/act1120-the-friar-lands-act.html
http://www.jstor.org/stable/1945652?seq=1&

Map Source :
http://www.ortigas.com.ph/about.html