Literally: “It’s Not Forbidden To Shoot Here: Makati Business District”
One of the things that made the members of the Facebook group Bawal Mag-Shoot Dito (BMSD) mad at me is a story I shared on their page about my recent, pleasant experience in shooting in Makati.
It’s about the photo-contest organized by Ayala Land, Makati Commercial Estate Association (MACEA) and Pinoy Photography. I posted this topic on the Facebook page of Bawal Mag-Shoot Dito (BMSD) and told them my desire to join this contest. They told me that they’re boycotting the event. I asked the reason and they told me that it has something to do with the City Government of Makati. I thought that they’re only boycotting taking pictures of Rizal Park and Intramuros. They are trying to achieve a lot of things at once.
Apparently, they also want to shoot freely in Makati City – the entire Makati City including the Business District – without any permits at all. So I told them the City Government of Makati has nothing to do with the Make It Makati Photo Contest since it’s initiated by private companies. They owned most of the Business District and that the permits that they provided are for their private properties only. Being private properties, of course they can do whatever they want within their jurisdiction. That includes requiring a permit to shoot. Take note, this only applies to DSLR for commercial purposes only. I have taken pictures before of Makati Business District with no problem.
Well, you know what happened to my story – it was deleted by the moderators of their FB page Bawal Mag-Shoot Dito. It seems that their group wants anarchy in this country – they want absolute right to shoot anywhere without fees and permits including privately-owned lands. I told them that even the City Government of Makati cannot grant them such power.
To cut the story short, I made the most out of the permits that they’ve given and I shoot to my heart’s desire. The permit specifically mentioned only Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue, Amorsolo Street, Makati Avenue and Arnaiz Avenue. I’ve toured all these places and there was only 1 instance wherein a security guard approached me and asked for permits. I took a picture of The Columns building at the corner of Arnaiz Avenue, which is a private property. So I showed him the permits and he backed off immediately.
That night was my first time at the Ayala Triangle Gardens. I approached the security guard and asked if the permit that I got includes this park. He told me that a lot of photographers are taking pictures of the park even before the contest begun. So he asked for my name and signaled the other guards that “a certain Elmer will be taking pictures inside the park”. I actually felt secured knowing that they’re aware of my presence. I have my tripod with me by the way. So I asked myself “WTF are the members of the Bawal Mag-Shoot Dito are telling that it’s forbidden to shoot in Makati.
I also told myself that if the members of the Bawal Mag-Shoot Dito really wanted to shoot in Makati, instead of boycotting the event they should have grabbed it and shoot to their heart’s desire. It’s not every day that these private companies allow photographers to shoot in their private lands. I really felt sorry for the members of that group. It seems that they spend more time protesting and filtering their FB Group wall instead of shooting.
These are all my personal opinion of the group. Just my two cents.
I have tons of pictures of Amorsolo and Arnaiz Avenue. I’ll probably post them some other time. To the members of Bawal Mag-Shoot Dito, if you really wanted something BIG to happen, be open to suggestions and criticism, stop posting OT topics to your FB wall, and talk to private companies as well.
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