At least 4,400 public school students are forced to stop taking their swimming lessons this week as the Makati Aqua Sports Arena (MASA) was rendered inaccessible since Sunday, March 3, following another closure order from the local government of Taguig City.
MASA is an outdoor swimming pool facility adjacent to the Makati Park and Garden, which Taguig City also closed to the public a week ago. Evidently, Makati City decried this development amid the ongoing tug-of-war between the two local governments.
“The illegal closure of MASA has disrupted the training of over 4,000 students. The rash action of Taguig has denied them access to the facility where they can learn an important life skill and even become competitive swimmers,” Makati City administrator Claro Certeza said.
MASA is equipped with an Olympic-sized swimming pool and a kids’ pool with showers and lockers. It is where Makati City’s “I Can Swim” program is being held. The project was launched last year to encourage young people to become competitive swimmers and develop resilience.
Makati City Mayor Abigail Binay initiated the “I Can Swim” program where participants were given free swimming lessons every Saturday, complete with swimming gear such as goggles, swim caps, kickboard, trunks, and rash guard.
The facility serves 2,195 participants in the ‘I Can Swim’ program, as well as 719 students of the University of Makati (UMak) College of Human Kinetics and 1,486 Grade 12 students of the Higher School of UMak (HSU).
Certeza said the MASA closure posed a serious problem for Makati City students who need to complete their swimming course as part of their
school curriculum. On March 3, Taguig personnel posted tarpaulins announcing the closure order and padlocked the gate of the facility.
A video of the incident showed a group of men locking the gate while ignoring the appeal of a female employee trapped inside the facility, according to Certeza.
The Makati Park, Amphitheater, and MASA have been barricaded and guarded by several uniformed personnel of the Traffic Management Office and other personnel of Taguig since they implemented the closure orders in succession from March 1 to 3.
The Taguig City government earlier accused Makati City of playing “the victim” and described the criminal cases filed against Mayor Laarni Cayetano and other personnel over the closure of Makati Park and Garden as a “publicity stunt.”
Taguig City asserted its right to regulate the operation of the Makati Park and Garden as the facility was under its jurisdiction via a Supreme Court decision.
The city government said that all government agencies are not exempted from regulations. While they are exempted from paying regulatory fees, they are required to get permits.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline Cruel summer for 4.4K young swimmers as Taguig City closes Makati Aqua Sports Arena