Monopoly

In Manila, its either Ayala or San Miguel corp.  In Fort B, its Ayala. Most utilities are paid to 1 Serendra, so I am not sure who provides the power, but at leasts its more efficient and I dont have to run around.  For cable, its Sky, which is strange as I dont think they are owned by Ayala.

Anyway, utilities are usually a monopoly in most countries. Most cannot afford to run different power stations to the same locality. Even Singapore is all controlled by SP Services. And between Far East and Capital, they own most of the land. There are 4 separate mobile carriers, but all are controllerd by Temesek/GIC.

BTW, I do my own handywork, why ask for permission, just do it.

Oh I did start drilling myself until the maintenance came knocking my door and telling me that I am not allowed to do if I do not have a permit, even if its just minor works...grrrrrrr

I can never get maintenance to come over without many requests. I guess start drilling and they come running.

sorry to hear about your predicament. but you know, I still like Makati in a way. If I had the chance, I will buy a condo right there across Greenbelt. We stayed there for a week or so and I enjoyed the daily walking I did in the morning at Greenbelt. I worked there in one of the old buildings of Philippine Airlines for almost 7 years and I am impressed with the Ayala group who made it so easy for a lot of people to walk around Makati. At one point, I did say to myself, what if they put some covering along the pathways that will lead from one mall to another, it will be easier to walk around during rainy days. Well, what do you know, after being gone for so many years, there it is. I have to say when you observe all of the properties owned by Ayala, you can see excellence and quality. Yes, it is expensive, but you can be assured of such traits. If not for them, Makati won't be as beautiful as it is right now. The only downside though is too much traffic and congestion.

When it comes to monopoly, yes, we have a number of top Chinese, Spanish, and even Filipinos who are monopolizing some industries. I think if you look at it on the good side, they just know how to manage their businesses well. When it comes to those poor maintenance services, that is most likely independent contractors and were obviously not properly trained to do an excellent service. It will be worthwhile to bring that up to their management.

Anyway, I hope to meet with you one of these days. I go to Makati every Wednesday for a morning training till August. Why not have lunch at Greenbelt?

Let me know and I will send you a pm for my cell or you can send yours

Looking forward in seeing you soon!
God bless
Pinaymentor

@pinaymentor

If you ask me about the quality of the buildings, I prefer to remain neutral...Ayala buildings are not high quality nor poor quality. There are technical issues of the building that the public needs to be concerned of but I do not say its Ayala's fault but more likely the Civil Engg dept of Makati who approve of the permit, perhaps its the antiquated specification that needed to be updated.... though if you compare other buildings to Ayala, Ayala is above it to be sure.

Skyscraper condominiums in Makati are relatively cheaper if compared to San Francisco or Sydney, but the fittings and fixture are of low quality. Myself could not afford a condo in San Francisco, a 1BR cost more than 1M. However to live in SFO also means a lot of residents have much higher income even if the residents do not own a home.

As for now all I can say is that Philippines has a lot of policies to catch up on or adopt...

Ayala properties are categorised in different price classes.  The ones that fall under Premier is the most expensive among the classes followed by Community Innovations and last by Avida.  Usually but not all of the fittings and fixtures used under the Premier properties are of the higher quality/pricier kinds like Kohler, Grohe,Panasonic switches etc while those under the Community Innovations and Avida use the less expensive kind like HCG, American Standard, Akari etc. While the fittings and fixtures used are still not commensurate base on the prices commanded by the properties we have to remember that at the end of the day the Ayala group's primary goal is profit.  While they may use cheaper materials for aesthetics they will not cut corners on safety or structural integrity.

I have not done snagging inspection in a long time but it does not mean that I totally forgot this process.

New buildings safety and structure remains to be seen. If the building starts to crack within 10 years (limits to construction liability contract)then its a failure.

Overall I am happy with my condo (because I do not intend to stay year round). At least I have a crashing pad, except when I look at the neighbouring building, you can still see that "eye sore".

vin30 wrote:

While they may use cheaper materials for aesthetics they will not cut corners on safety or structural integrity.

all the economy of the philippines is on chines hands. all of them.cebu pacific , jollibee , chaw king, robinson , drug stors, globe , smart , PLDT , zest air , SM , insurance companies , all the things that are imported , vico technology and stuff , shipping , air phil express , china bank ,ect.
even good local business and places are owned by chines ,
as a foreigner who lived there for 4 years in cebu city , i found a bitter fact that chines are sucking the blood of the Philippines

Agree 100% but we foreigners really do not have a say because as soon as you start saying something, the authoritarian people will attack you.

givmaster wrote:

all the economy of the philippines is on chines hands. all of them.cebu pacific , jollibee , chaw king, robinson , drug stors, globe , smart , PLDT , zest air , SM , insurance companies , all the things that are imported , vico technology and stuff , shipping , air phil express , china bank ,ect.
even good local business and places are owned by chines ,
as a foreigner who lived there for 4 years in cebu city , i found a bitter fact that chines are sucking the blood of the Philippines