Coming home to Sta. Barbara Heights
I spent most of my childhood days in my mom’s family
house in Brgy. Inangayan, Sta. Barbara, Iloilo.
During summer vacation, my siblings, cousins and I would
go out of the compound through the back gate and traverse the sloping terrain until
we reach the Iloilo Golf and Country Club, which is located in another village.
Along the way, we would stop to watch the carabaos relax in their puddle.
Sometimes, we would run fast whenever a snake crosses our path.
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| Interior and exterior shots of the model houses |
Those fields and rolling hills are now being bulldozed to
develop Sta. Barbara Heights, a 170-hectare mixed-use development of Megaworld’s
Global-Estate Resorts, Inc. Thirty-four hectares will be used for residential
lots while the rest will host varied businesses like restaurants, malls and
more, for the ease of its future residents.
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| One of the new privately-owned houses |
We saw that Phase 1 is complete. In fact, beautiful
houses, apart from the clubhouse, are already there. The clubhouse has a pool
and a natural lake. It has carefully manicured gardens, which are ideal for
parties. The nearby playground will surely bring delight to kids.
Phase 2 and 3 are still being developed. Future residents of Phase 3 will definitely find themselves the luckiest because they will be occupying the gently sloping terrain. It will give them a breathtaking view of nature. Josh Von Iron Tondo, training and recruitment specialist, who showed us around the area said that there are still lots available. Takers, anyone?
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| Clubhouse swimming pool and playground |
Apart from the business complex, GERI will also build a
school and a football field at Sta. Barbara Heights. Tondo said they will not
stop with those structures. In fact, the area is so vast that they can add more
amenities and facilities when the need arises.
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| Trees are important to the community |
Sta. Barbara Heights is another showcase of Megaworld’s live-work-play-learn
development concept. They do not just build homes, they also build townships
that fulfill the needs of its residents. Gone are the days when residents have
to travel far to the city in order to go to school, work, shop or have fun. Apart
from this, Megaworld is also the leading BPO office space provider in the
Philippines.
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| Sta. Barbara Heights (Photo from Megaworld) |
So, the playground where I used to have fun with my siblings
and cousins is gone. Well, we grew up anyway. It will be replaced with a community
where its new residents will build their own dreams and their own memories; a
place deserving to be called home – Sta. Barbara Heights./By Marie Katherine Villalon
