It’s final: the Court of Appeals has ended Makati City’s claims over Fort Bonifacio, ruling that the contested territory rightfully belongs to Taguig City.

In a decision penned by Associate Justice Jaime Fortunato Caringal dated 28 May 2025, the CA’s Third Division dismissed Makati’s petition for certiorari, effectively closing the book on a decades-long territorial dispute that has shaped Metro Manila’s political and economic landscape.

The ruling marks the judicial conclusion to the Supreme Court’s landmark December 2021 decision, which had already placed Fort Bonifacio and ten surrounding barangays under Taguig’s jurisdiction.

Despite multiple failed attempts at reconsideration, Makati pursued what the appellate court described as a dilatory tactic — an “Urgent Motion for Clarification” that sought to delay implementation by demanding a writ of execution and precise boundary delineation.

The CA emphasized that the Supreme Court’s original ruling contained clear, self-executing directives that required no further judicial intervention.

“The permanent injunction against Makati took immediate effect upon the Supreme Court’s final judgment,” the decision stated, adding that lower courts lack authority to modify or reinterpret such definitive rulings.

Notably, the CA dismissed Makati’s assertion of boundary ambiguity. Records showed both cities had long recognized the EMBO barangays’ limits, with Makati even publishing official maps confirming them. The court called it disingenuous for Makati to demand exact surveys after nearly thirty years of legal battles.

The ruling specifically cited precedents establishing that neither trial courts nor sheriffs may alter Supreme Court decisions, calling such attempts “an evasion of judicial duty.”

The transition impacts tax collection, business permitting, school administration, and police jurisdiction.

Taguig now undertakes the complex task of fully integrating the EMBO barangays into its administrative framework.