Broken Promises by the Bay

Because DH didn’t want to, I decided to attend the annual meeting of our condominium association. DH had warned me that he attended last year and aside from low quorum, the meeting was magulo because a lot of residents were complaining about the developer (Federal Land - FL) and their broken promises. I thought that since we lived here, I wanted to know what was happening and what better way to know than to attend these meetings.

So I attended and it was definitely chaotic! The president of the association was from FL and several officers from FL attended too. The meeting was supposed to start at 9am but there was no quorum! At 1030am, the president decided to start discussing matters which didn’t require a quorum. There were four major issues that the residents focused on:

1. Sky Cable
A Mr. Kennedy kept complaining why we were being held hostage by Sky Cable. Sky is the only available service provider in the complex (there are already 5 condos standing our of a proposed 11 towers). The Persian guy wanted to have Destiny because of its numerous sports channels. But the administration and board of directors wouldn't let him put up a satellite dish on his balcony or the roof. So during the meeting, he kept bringing up this topic over and over again. Personally, I couldn't care less if there were few sports channels in Sky (i'm not a sports fan). BUT I think that he should've been allowed a satellite dish on his balcony and the buildings shouldn't have been restricted to Sky Cable. As long as Sky Cable has a monopoly on this complex, we can hardly expect their services to improve and to offer residents better channel selections.

2. Car Stickers

FL has been actively marketing sales of the condominium complex and the logo. Our car stickers use this logo. A lot of residents have been concerned about their security in public. Since our logo is very well marketed, even if the stickers consist of only the logo, the public knows where the car owner lives. Thus, a lot of residents don't want to attach the stickers on their windshield. However, this becomes a problem upon entering the compound since the guards will block you and ask you questions if you don't have your sticker attached. It was suggested that the car stickers use a logo different from what FL is using. Since we are obligated to renew our car stickers every year, hopefully next year, we will be using a stickers with a "private logo."

3. Obstructed Views
This is the most controversial topic during the meeting. In fact the FL officers who were there bore the brunt of the residents' ire, particularly residents of Crystal Tower. When Crystal and Boardwalk Towers were being built, one of the marketing come-ons of agents was that there was going to be a sports club that will be built beside Crystal Tower. Well, there will be a sports club that will be built beside Crystal Tower - but that's not it -- it will be a club and residences - a 5-level sports club plus 3 residential towers with 17 floors each!! Crystal Tower residents were outraged because when they bought their units, they had bought it for the view and now, their views were to be blocked by another condominium. And that's not all. Behind Crystal and Boardwalk Towers, FL is planning to build 2 more Y-shaped towers. FL is also planning to build 4 more Y-shaped towers in front of and behind Mactan and Palawan Towers!

The FL people came with very nice powerpoint presentations and huge smiles. But one resident of Crystal was really upset. She had previously been featured in the Philippine Star, where she extolled the fine living she enjoyed in her tower. But now, she was fuming and wanted to issue a retraction! Another lady from Anchor Tower was also upset because when she bought her condo, she had gone into feng shui consulation and her view was included in the feng shui. But with the construction of the club and residences, her view would be ruined and subsequently, her feng shui as well.

4. Unethical Marketing

Residents were also complaining about the unethical marketing practices of FL agents. One of the residents pointed out that FL was using the previously-built towers as examples in selling Mactan and Palawan. Unknown to Mactan and Palawan buyers, whereas the first towers were made of concrete walls, the towers of Mactan and Palawan were made of gypsum board. I guess this is really the situation which calls for "buyer beware" attention.

My beef with the condo?

The association and administration is very strict - which is also a good thing since it maintains the exclusivity of the place.

It is also very difficult to get a taxi. You need to call from outside resulting in an extra 50 pesos charge on top of your fare! And it takes at least 30 minutes. One of the members suggested that there be a "TAXI" light on each of the security guard entrances, such that the guards turn on the light simultaneously when a cab is needed and once the guard is able to flag one down, he also simultaneously turns off the light. I truly hope that this suggestion is implemented to do away with the 30-minute wait and extra 50php taxi-call fee. Plus it is friendlier to the environment since nearby taxis are flagged down instead of radioing for a faraway taxi to come.

Regarding function rooms, the administration charges 4000php for 6 hours for the Crystal Tower Function Room and 5000php for 6 hours for the Mactan Tower Function Room, with each room good only for 40 people. I find this rate really steep, considering that most functions only last for about 4 hours. I think that they should reduce the charge to 4 hours since most of the condominiums I have inquired at charge much less for a bigger capacity.

And finally, there is another proposed increase in association dues from 57 pesos to 63 pesos. I think since we moved here there has been a 10 pesos increase in association dues! Hmmm is this like Meralco and we residents are also being charged with FL's systems loss?! I hope not!

Oh.. and the meeting adjourned at about 1pm – still with no quorum. As one resident puts it, he doesn’t know if the other residents are just apathetic or they’re just fed up with FL and don’t want to waste their time attending this meetings. They’ve decided to hold another meeting on June 28. I will definitely be attending and I hope more residents will attend so we can do something productive.