Hey everyone! If you are looking for a new destination for your Christmas shopping or shopping for your needs, then be informed that there will be a Christmas bazaar inside Alabang Hills Village in Muntinlupa City that will start from November 29 up to December 1, 2019.
According to an Alabang Hills Village Association (AHVA) official, the bazaar (formally titled Baratilo & Bingo sa Pasko) will be held at the two covered basketball courts and at a portion of the grass near the old village clubhouse. The schedule of the organizing of the bazaar will be from 9AM to 9PM on each of the three days.
More notably, the AHVA revealed to me that there will be a lot of sellers. As of today, confirmed are 72 sellers of dry goods, 32 sellers of food and beverages, and 29 ukay (used items) sellers. Expect to see a big mix of products like clothes, shoes, bags, household items, appliances and the like. As written on the bazaar’s title, there will also be bingo games held although the precise venue and other key details are not yet available as of this writing.
As with the past bazaars and special events held in the village, non-residents are welcome to visit and shop in the bazaar. Naturally, non-residents who are bringing vehicles that do not have Alabang Hills stickers are required to leave their ID cards at the village gate in order to enter.
For more information, contact the AHVA by calling landline 8850-8254 and 8850-9631.
When it comes to being competitive among the many cities of the Philippines, making the Top Ten of the most important category is a big achievement already. Thanks to the respective news releases of Business Mirror and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) the latest Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index (CMCI) for 2019 showed that Muntinlupa City is now the 8th most competitive highly urbanized city (HUC) of the entire nation.
Specifically, Muntinlupa is one of six Metro Manila cities that made the Top 10 of the Most Competitive Highly Urbanized Cities category as revealed during the 7th Regional Competitiveness Summit held at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City on October 24.. The city that is home to Ayala Alabang, Alabang Hills, Filinvest City and Northgate Cyberzone is the only South Metro Manila city to make it in the Top 10 of the said category. This is a notable improvement over last year’s results.
Muntinlupa’s Public Information Officer Tez Navarro responded to my inquiry by saying that their administration is glad that the city made it in the Top 10 among HUCs. I also made inquiries to my sources within the city governments of Parañaque and Las Piñas and, as of this writing, nobody responded. The Most Competitive City for HUCs is Quezon City.
In my view, it’s not surprising that Muntinlupa made it big given the City Government’s (headed by Mayor Jaime Fresnedi) continued public services, efficiency and the local economy’s strong growth. Muntinlupa also made it in the Top 10 on the categories of government efficiency and infrastructure.
As for Parañaque, this year marks another chapter in history in which the city (whose local government unit is led by mayor Edwin Olivarez) failed to break into the Top 10 among Highly Urbanized Cities. In the 2018 Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index, the city that is home to BF Homes subdivision as well as those fancy casinos and resorts of Entertainment City ranked 14th among HUCs and 21st place overall in the competitiveness chart that includes HUCs and component cities.
Going back to this year’s Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index, Parañaque got tied with Caloocan City for the 3rd place ranking for the Most Improved LGUs category among HUCs. The Most Improved LGU for Highly Urbanized Cities is shared at the top by Valenzuela and Malabon. When it comes to economic dynamism and infrastructure, Parañaque got mentioned.
Now that the CMCI for 2019 has been published, now is a good time to take a close look at the infrastructure quality and government efficiency in Parañaque. Very recently traffic along Presidents Avenue (the road that connects Dr. A. Santos Avenue with the BF Homes commercial zone and the villages) worsened due to the three road operations (two belonging to Maynilad and one with the Department of Public Works and Highways) happening there at the same time. Those operations occupied significant space on the road making the flow of traffic tighter and more congested. Already motorists who travel regularly along Presidents Avenue are already annoyed with the worsened traffic congestion and a few of them questioned as to why is it that the City Government did not bother to send inspectors on the three road operations. Going back to this year’s CMCI, government efficiency is clearly where Parañaque is lacking.
As for the City of Las Piñas, there is a lack of available information as to how it fared among HUCs in varied categories as of this writing.
Ranking the Competitiveness
According to the CMCI website, The rankings of Cities and Municipalities are based on the sum of their scores on four pillars: Economic Dynamism, Government Efficiency, Infrastructure and Resiliency. Provincial rankings meanwhile are based on population and income weighted average of the Overall scores of cities and municipalities under a province.
The Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index or CMCI is an annual ranking of Philippine cities and municipalities developed by the National Competitiveness Council through the Regional Competitiveness Committees (RCCs) with the assistance of the United States Agency for International Development.
After worshiping the Lord at church this past Sunday in Las Piñas City, I proceeded straight to Madison Galeries in Barangay Cupang, Alabang, Muntinlupa City to attend their special event of the day called Village Food Fair 2.
Months ago, out of curiosity, I attended the first Village Food Fair held at that same open-air shopping mall and I had fun looking around and enjoying some food and beverages. The pleasurable experience I back had then made me wish that the mall would organize another food fair and, as what happened this Sunday, they delivered!
The food vendors outside the Madison Events Place.High-quality beef sold for shawarma.
At Village Food Fair 2, I visited first the food stalls at the 3rd floor just outside of the Madison Events Place (which is a large, air-conditioned hall) where food products like shawarma, rice meals and freshly cooked meat were served. I noticed beef wagyu offered in both packed and in cooked form.
Inside the Madison Events Place was a whole lot of vendors that offered a great variety of beverages and food to choose from. There were packaged sushi rolls, coffee (in powdered form, in beans and in brewed form), organic pasta, noodles, dumplings, pies, nuts, beans, sandwiches, carrot cakes and the like. On keeping the atmosphere lively, the mall operators hired a lady to play the guitar and sing on the spot.
A customer waiting to be served.This lady sang nicely during the food fair.
There was a whole lot to choose from Village Food Fair 2 and I am very glad that Madison Galeries organized this. As a coffee enthusiast, I ordered black coffee mixed with condensed milk. That coffee was prepared for me with the utmost care as two containers were used to pour and mix the coffee and condensed milk together before serving it on a cup. I liked the taste.
I went outside Madison Events Place to try a chicken shawarma. The chicken was really well cooked and the vegetables and pita used made each bite a delight. I got my money’s worth as a result. Before going home, I bought Barako coffee powder from one of the vendors inside Madisons Events Place.
This looks yummy!Coffee, honey, chocolate and other nice stuff for sale.Organic pasta for sale.
In conclusion, I should say that my experience with Village Food Fair 2 was even more pleasurable than the previous time. It sure was nice to see a wide selection of food and beverage products of nice quality along with several customers making transactions with the sellers. I sincerely hope for another Village Food Fair to be organize there at Madison Galeries which is clearly the best open-air shopping mall to be at in South Metro Manila. For Ayala Alabang residents and BF Homes residents (as well as those living in related communities like Tahanan Village) reading this, to visit Madison Galeries without having to travel along the West Service Road from Parañaque, I highly recommend securing a non-resident, passing thru vehicular sticker from Alabang Hills Village Association (AHVA) so that your access will be better.
Sushi rolls being sold.The other sellers inside the Madison Events Place.This one really smelled good as the cooking went on.
My thanks to Madison Galeries and the concessionaires who made Village Food Fair 2 happen. I would love to attend another edition of it in the near future. Village Food Fair is easily a standout among all food fairs in South Metro Manila.
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If there is anything notable about South Metro Manila, it is the fact that there is a “thin” border between the cities of Parañaque, Muntinlupa and Las Piñas in close proximity to Alabang-Zapote Road.
Look Concha Cruz Drive inside BF Homes subdivision. Part of it falls under Parañaque while the remaining part leading to Alabang-Zapote Road falls under Las Piñas City. Parallel to Concha Cruz Drive is Ramon Tirona street connecting Parañaque to Muntinlupa City through Alabang Hills Village.
Along the straight, long road that links Alabang Hills Village to the West Service Road is the nice looking, open-air mall called Madison Galeries which I occasionally visit. During my latest visit, I noticed something on the ground level…Manila’s Best Coffee is gone and in its place is the ongoing establishment of a new Starbucks Coffee branch.
The upcoming Starbucks Coffee shop at Madison Galeries.
Not only that. I noticed the said Starbucks also took a lot more space of the mall. There was another commercial joint beside Manila’s Best Coffee that is no more and its space got consumed. This is a huge Starbucks coming and there is always that possibility that it will help Madison Galeries attract even more customers. Consumers coming from BF Homes who wish to visit Madison Galeries by car will need a passing-through car sticker from the Alabang Hills Village Association first. Otherwise they will have to travel the long way along Dr. A. Santos Avenue or Alabang-Zapote Road to make it to the mall through the West Service Road.
Speaking of new things, I also noticed a change going on at the ground floor level of the Pergola Mall in Barangay BF Homes, Parañaque City. Check the picture below.
Fatmelts Diner is renovating and expanding at Pergola Mall.
Fatmelts Diner, a favorite food and beverage joint in the BF Homes community that has operated for many years now, is undergoing renovation and expansion. Similar to the upcoming Starbucks at Madison Galeries, the diner also consumed additional commercial space (not pictured) that was previously occupied by Di’ Mark’s Pizza.
I can only speculate that more space will mean more seats and tables for customers and more kitchen space and cooking equipment. How this will improve the quality of the food and service remains in question. Still this is something to look forward to once Fatmelts Diner reopens.
The thing about Pergola Mall and Madison Galeries is that, if you drive a car and you have the required car stickers (to pass through the villages), they are both reachable and you can enjoy what each place has to offer. This is one of the charms of South Metro Manila.
Author Carlo Carrasco 