It is an interesting fact that the Philip-pine government considers Makati a municipality (or town) and not a city. Not only does Makati have more than 400,000 in-habitants, but also in sheer appearance, it is that par-ticular part of the Philippines which has the flair of a big city and which reminds one of Manhattan or downtown Hong Kong. Makati, the only place in The Country with clusters of skyscrapers, is not a city. But in the Philippines, the designation "city" does not tell much about the degree of urbaniza-tion. For example, a place called Tagaytay City (City!) is just a small rural community with less than 20,000 inhabitants. The people of Makati, however, did not want their munici-pality elevated to city status because they believed it would cause some disadvantages for busi-ness.

Makati is the brain and the purse of the Philippine economy. In its central district are located most of the head offices of the coun-try's banks and biggest corporations, as well as most embassies. But actually, the business district of Makati occupies only about 10 percent of its munici-pal area. Therefore, it is hard to believe that lack of space was the reason for building towers, as was the case in Man-hattan and Hong Kong. But high-rise buildings serve as a status symbol. The most Manhattan-like areas are along Ayala Ave, Paseo de Roxas and Sen. Gil Puyat Ave (formerly Buendia Ave).

Ayala Ave is named after one of the most famous families of entrepreneurs of the archipelago, the Ayalas. In the 19th century much of Makati was purchased by them and they did a lot to advance the transformation of the former village known for good clay and ceramics, into the financial center it is today.

But Makati has more to offer than merely a prime location for business offices. For recreation and entertainment, it has many es-tablishments along Makati Ave, Pasong Tamo Extension and Pasay Rd. For high class shop-ping, there is Cinema Square, Greenbelt Square, and the Makati Commercial Center where big department stores and supermarkets are located, offering the best quality of local and imported goods.

Again another side of Makati are the resi-dential vil-lages. Across from EDSA (Epiphanio de los Santos Ave) is Forbes Park, the giant residential area of the upper-upper class, sur-rounded by high walls and guarded by its own police. There are also Dasmarinas Vil-lage, Bel-Air I, II and III, San Lorenzo and other vil-lages. Legazpi Village is no longer a residen-tial village but is the site of many commer-cial buildings. Makati was a busy but peaceful place until the assassination of the late Senator Aquino in l983. Then, it developed into the site of nu-merous rallies and demonstrations. Yellow con-fetti falling from tall commercial buildings displayed dis-sent to the Marcos Administration and became an ordinary feature every Friday afternoon. Ac-cordingly, Makati gave a hearty welcome to Cory Aquino's rise to power.

Again in the center of political turmoil, Makati was the main venue of the failed coup attempt of December 1989. Rebel soldiers had seized many skyscrapers and the five-star ho-tels of the financial district and waged guerilla war in the concrete jungle, with snipers on the roof tops and buildings booby-trapped with mines. Hundreds of hotel guests were held hostages for days, until their re-lease was negotiated. By disabling Makati, business and banking in the whole country was paralyzed. For further details, please refer to our 'Chronicle'. Quezon City

From 1948 to 1975, Quezon City was the capital of the Philippines. The city is named after its founder Manuel Quezon who was the first president of the Philippines when the archipelago was granted partial indepen-dence from the US in 1935. Even today, Quezon City has many government depart-ments and offices. Most are located in the vicinity of the Quezon Memorial Circle which is com-monly referred to as govern-ment circle.

The busiest district in Quezon City is the Cubao shopping area. It is very similar to the Makati Commercial Center but bigger and with fewer extravagant stores. Another gigan-tic shopping center in Quezon City is the new Shoemart City which is also called Shoemart West because it is located at the entrance of West Ave into EDSA.

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