Makati Central Business District

Pre-war period Downtown Makati started out as part of the wide municipality of Santa Ana de Sapa (part of the City of Manila today as the District of Sta. Ana) and became a town of its own in 1670, then as San Pedro de Macati in honor of its patron, Saint Peter. In 1851, Don José Bonifacio Roxas (a member of the Ayala-Roxas family) purchased the farm estate of "Hacienda San Pedro de Macati" from the Jesuits for 52,800 pesos. The western portion of the estate is now what is called the downtown. Since then, Makati and its development remain close to the Zobel de Ayala family. in 1937 In 1901, the Americans declared the whole area south of the Pasig River, including the whole Hacienda San Pedro de Macati (downtown), down to Alabang in the present-day Muntinlupa, a US military reservation; thus establishing Fort McKinley, which is now known as Fort Bonifacio. That same year, the whole town, with a population of 25,000, was incorporated from the then Province of Manila to the new province of Rizal with Marcelino Magsaysay serving as the town president. In the 1930s, the first airport in Luzon island, Nielson Field, opened in what is now the Ayala Triangle within the hacienda. The airport was officially inaugurated in 1938, and Philippine Airlines began its operations there in 1941. The tracks of what is now the Philippine National Railways reached the town very early in the decade, which is located at the western portion of the downtown at present, with three stations serving commuters and residents. Postwar period After the destruction of World War II that brought upon Makati, the town grew rapidly, and real estate values boomed. As Nielson Field closed down in 1948, the plan was set for the building of the central business district. The first centrally planned communities from the Ayalas' farm estate were established in the 1950s. Some of the gated communities (Urdaneta, San Lorenzo, San Antonio, and Bel-Air Villages) that were developed grew into commercial areas and office parks. The multiple-lane Ayala Avenue was completed in 1958, which was once part of the runway of the first commercial airport in the country, Nielson Airport. The downtown was developed into high density residential and commercial areas according to specific zoning regulations. In the early 1960s, Ayala y Cía commissioned some of the first high-rise buildings along Ayala Avenue from one of the country's best known architects, Leandro V. Locsin. Although both the MSE (Manila Stock Exchange) and the MkSE traded the same stocks of the same companies, the bourses were separate stock exchanges for nearly 30 years until December 23, 1992, when both exchanges were unified to become the present-day Philippine Stock Exchange. Downtown Makati has been the financial capital of the Philippines since the late 1960s, owing to congestion, relative lack of expansion area, higher land prices and taxes, and urban decay in Manila. Economic activity in the downtown was still ongoing, with Nemesio Yabut as town mayor, preparing the district for Makati's full integration as part of the new region of Metro Manila (officially the National Capital Region) and as a founding member of the Metropolitan Manila Commission, which it achieved with the commission's formal establishment on November 7, 1975, ending Makati's many years as a town under Rizal Province. Following the assassination of Ninoy Aquino in 1983, the downtown area was one of the many places of rallies and mass demonstrations that were the basis of the People Power Revolution against the dictatorship of then-President Marcos in 1986. The whole people of Makati especially the businessmen in downtown celebrated the remarkable event. 21st century In the early 2000s, the downtown was a primary target of political rallies and terrorist attacks. On May 17, 2000, at 5:02 p.m., Glorietta inside Ayala Center was bombed injuring 12 persons, mostly teenagers. According to local authorities, the homemade bomb was placed in front of a toilet beside a video arcade. It was said to be the precursor to the May 21, 2000 SM Megamall bombing and the December 30, 2000 Rizal Day bombings. From August 2000 to January 2001, a wave of protests against the former president Joseph Estrada occurred in the district. The anti-Estrada protests in Makati focused on Ayala Avenue, which cuts from EDSA to Buendia (now Gil Puyat Avenue). The death toll in the explosion was 11, with 120 injured. Despite conflicting reports, it was concluded that the explosion was caused by a faulty liquefied petroleum gas tank located in a Chinese restaurant. In 2011, the Occupy Wall Street movement protesting economic inequality and the power of United States financial institutions spread from New York City to other parts of the world, including the Philippines. The movement's supporters' first action was held on October 14, when protesters marched in Makati City from the Ninoy Aquino monument on Ayala Avenue to the American Chamber of Commerce. The movement here in the country is called "Occupy Philippines", which had other protests held at the US Embassy and Rizal Park in Manila after the protest in Makati. In 2014, the Makati Tourism Foundation and Makati city government started a tourism campaign called "Make it Happen, Make it Makati", which promotes tourism mainly in the business district. == Divisions ==