MANILA, Philippines – The Makati City government has started to put labels on properties it owns across 14 public schools in the Enlisted Men’s Barrios (EMBO), which are now part of Taguig.

During Rappler’s visit to some public schools in EMBO on Tuesday, August 29, some items – such as tables, shelves, televisions, and other equipment – had stickers with the Makati logo on them.

Classes started in public primary and secondary schools on Tuesday.

This effort is part of the inventory being done by the transition committee created by the Department of Education (DepEd) after the Supreme Court ruled that the 10 EMBO barangays and Fort Bonifacio are part of Taguig and not Makati.

Recently, the DepEd central office stepped in to directly supervise the affected schools and facilitate the transition.

Education Undersecretary Francis Bringas said that there are properties belonging to the agency and others owned by the Makati city government within EMBO schools.

“Most of the challenges would revolve around properties, determining to whom this material belongs, this facility here. That’s why the inventory will be very useful in clearly identifying the owners of the property, the equipment within the school, the buildings, and so forth,” Bringas said.

He said they intend to complete the inventory in three weeks.

Prior to this, the Makati City government had placed large banners at the EMBO schools to claim ownership. Makati Mayor Abby Binay also said that some public schools would be leased to the Taguig City government.

Adjacent to this declaration of ownership, a relatively modest tarpaulin proclaims, “I love Taguig.”

Noticeably, when Rappler visited 10 schools in EMBO on Tuesday, these signages which used to be posted at the entrance of some schools in EMBO, were removed

During the Brigada Eskwela, tension emerged between the two cities after Taguig took over the 14 public schools in EMBO. – Rappler.com