Where in the Philippines is Bonifacio Global City – the Gateway to the First World Country?

Getting into this place, for me, is an amazing experience of a lifetime. For a Filipino like me who grows in a rural setting, seeing towers and high-rise buildings with blue and black tinted glasses is definitely a very self-gratifying experience. Bonifacio Global City (BGC) is a first class urban community in the City of Taguig in the National Capital Region (NCR). It is situated between the well-known C5 Road and EDSA. Commuting via the BGC buses, the place is very accessible to people on all walks of life. Although this is one of the highly-densed business centers in the Metropolitan Manila, it is still an open place to all city wanderers and foreign travelers. There are lots of parks, recreational places and modern event venues that can be found here. This is the city that is now bringing changes on the face of the Manila heritage.

On the Photos: First Two Photo Capture of the Bonifacio Global City

About the Job Opportunity

I had been here sometime in the month of September 2012 for a potential job opportunity. It was an unexpected call from a company which corporate office is based here and so I didn't think twice accepting the interview request. I happened to know this place from the news on TV, word-of-mouth promotions on the streets, internet surfing and recently from that very convincing call of the company’s recruitment officer. Although I had been going back and forth in Metro Manila in the last ten years, this feeling of excitement is undeniably there deep inside of me. I am not a jobless man by the time I received that invitation.

However, knowing that this soon-to-be job opportunity would be somewhere in the middle of Bonifacio Global City, I began to dream higher that I could at least get a better source of income and a little bit of a luxurious way of living someday. And there is even more than that. That is to help my family and even the whole clan as much as I can in the province of Batangas in moving away from those awful years of staying in the poverty line. I have that in my mind until I found myself walking in the gorgeous streets of West Bonifacio Global City. My appointment is ten o'çlock in the morning and luckily, after the heavy traffic encounters from my place in Cavite up to Ayala Avenue in Makati City, I am still forty minutes ahead of time.

On the Photo: The Net Square Tower

On the Photo: View from the 7-11 Convenient Store

Wandering Around the City - a New Experience

The look and feel of an office environment is completely different from that of my home and probably of the home of millions of other Filipinos in the Philippines. Expensive carpet, shiny floor tiles, stainless elevator, thick glass doors and windows, automatic faucets and urinals, ergonomic tables and chairs, spacious cubes, exquisite swivel chairs, and formal attires of office workers can be seen inside and outside of the Net Square tower. I have no idea that this is how it looks like.

Although my current company has a newly constructed building with world class facilities, as they announced it, I could not resist comparing the beauty and elegance of this building with that of ours. As I am walking on the hallway going to the interview room, the security guard escorting me is obviously showing a sincere sign of respect to me. My black leather shoes, gray long sleeve and burgundy necktie made me a whole new person right at that very moment. I suddenly think for a while and ask myself: How much would it cost me to live here and how much should I earn in order for me to survive with that city way of living?

The interview begins and it was actually nice. It's very professional and a healthy information sharing between me and the interviewer ended well.

On the Photo: The Lawson Company Lobby Inside the Net Square Tower

On the Photo: High-rise Condominiums and City Park

The Job Interview

The interview lasted for about forty minutes. It was a great conversation. I left the room with a big hope that they will contact me soon. It was almost eleven o’clock and so I decided to drop by in a 7-11 convenient store at the ground floor of the building. While I am taking my meal, I look around the city streets, the building horizon at the far distance, and on the busy people passing by on the clean pedestrians of the avenue where I am into. The tone of the voices of the people going in and out of the store seems to be very casual. You will always hear them conversing in “Taglish” or Tagalog-English. It is usually a blend of English and Filipino as the common language of business communication in the offices here in the country especially if the company is American or European. After about fifteen minutes, I then walk out of the store and decided to have a city stroll.

More Explorations of the Global City
The next structures that welcome my eyes are beautiful and amazing. It was the Mind Museum, a modern architectural design that is truly inviting to the visitors for them to witness the many wonders of science. All I can do is take photos of the building’s unique walls and cool entrance hall. That same day, there are many excursionists waiting for the next opening time of the museum. I walk around, enjoy my eyes more, and energetically capture every angle that can possibly become a perfect entry into my blog site.

The Science in the Park, just on the opposite side of the museum’s entrance, is a perfect attraction for the kids. Also beside it is a mosaic-like wall and floor architecture where the names of famous businessmen and successful companies that helped Bonifacio Global City on becoming more progressive and highly-urbanized are printed on each tile of either brick or stainless metal. The front plaza of the museum has a huge rusty metal architectural masterpiece and it is truly an attraction you would never ignore on looking into. It is perfectly welded and written at the base platform is a short article entitled “People’s Mind”.

On the Photos: The Mind Museum in Taguig City

A More Detailed Observation

Wherever I look, there is a tower of very appealing design and architecture. City buses, taxis, cars, and many other types of vehicles are non-stop traversing the BGC’s clean asphalt roads and traffic-lighted intersections. You will observe that people and vehicles are obeying the street signs and traffic light signals. The name of the streets is written on header blue plates so that they are clearly visible to the motorists. Perhaps, they are what guided me in finding the exact location of the Net Square tower aside from the big help of Google Maps.

Other noticeable city spots that I observed are the on-going construction of many other high-rise buildings on different vacant areas. You can see cranes, two or three of them, lifting construction materials from the ground going up to the higher floors of the buildings. Who would think of that BGC is not progressing if these are the views that you can see on many areas of the city? Probably none. This simply means jobs, business opportunities, more income for the city government, and most of all a good sign of a county climbing for success. Regardless of whether they are being built because of the efforts of foreign investors or not, still they are built on the Philippines land and they means economic growth.

As my time of strolling the city begins to expire, I then decided to find the nearest bus station. And with my amusement and excitement of witnessing this so called “global city”, I never let the moments pass without capturing every landmarks and hot spots even if I am on-board of the bus heading back to the main terminal in Ayala, Makati City. The historical McKinley Road did not escape into the lens of my camera. The road trip is nice and leaving BGC reminds me that I will have to go back here again not just once but probably many times in the near future.

On the Photos: Famous Landmarks and Noticeable Spots Inside BGC

Makati City and Bonifacio Global City on Globalization

Only a few minutes away from Bonifacio Global City is Makati City. This city is popularly known as the Financial Center of the Philippines. It is very famous to the business people because the Philippine Stock Exchange and the Makati Business Club can be found here. This is where I took my ride going back home to Cavite, specifically at the Ayala Station under the Metro Rail Transit System or MRT. The Makati and BGC skylines are spectacular views as I see them when I'm crossing the foot bridge going to the train station. At the back of my mind, I used to compare the two cities in terms of economic progress. I have no statistics to immediately look into but base on what I can see, they are battling for the number one spot for the most progressive city in the country.

Somehow, the Philippines is still holding on to the challenge of globalization. There are many negative connotations about this country but with these foreign and local investors flourishing together in such financial districts, good reputation still prevails. The Philippine government now even more realizes the importance of hugging the challenges of modernization. On the recent surveys shared by market analysts and economists to the media, Philippine economy is now showing signs of movement towards the top of the global ranking. The credit rating has improved and the system of governance is bringing positive changes to the life of the Filipino people.

On the Photo: The Makati City Skyline

On the Photo: The Bonifacio Global City Skyline

Like of the continuous building constructions at the Bonifacio Global City, I want to conclude that the whole country should strive more in order to become globally competitive. I am not certain that my job opportunity trip to this city will deliver to me the good news anytime from today. But one way or the other, through this blog, I am confident that success is already within me by being able to express my humble appreciation of this wonderful city.

It is indeed a global city!

I might have missed visiting the famous Market Market, the Serendera, and the Fort Square but with that short period of time of getting at least a portion of the big picture of what this city is all about for the Philippines and the Filipino people, it is already an achievement I would not surely forget until I become one of the successful future entrepreneurs of this country.

The gateway to first world Philippines just opened up and it is up to us to bring ourselves inside that better place.

On the Photo: A Final Look on the Bonifacio Global City High-rise Buildings

On the Photo: The MRT Station in Ayala, Makati City

Behind Failure is a Success

Two months after this job interview, I was hired by a telecommunication company in Singapore. In the past 3 years, I had been actually going back and forth to Metro Manila to look for a job - the one that is high-paying, career-motivating, and self-fulfilling. I always think that I am the most unlucky job-seeker because of rejections and failures on becoming the successful candidate. Things went differently when I got this work abroad opportunity. However, I am always true to my belief that money or higher salary is not everything. If you're looking for a job, you should think about of its full-scale benefits including the happiness. If you're looking for a job, prepare for it and do not just attack while you're incomplete. Job is both an opportunity and a threat - there are risks involve.

About the Author
Noriel Panganiban is the founder of Knowriel.com. Practicing the Business Consultant role, his expertise revolves around Supply Chain Management, Internet Marketing, and Education. He shared his story about his job-haunting experience because he wants to inspire job seekers to never give up finding their dream jobs. For him, facing the challenges of the fast-moving economy is an act of change - change for betterment.