We were held hostage inside BF Almanza Village!

Okay, apparently the security guards of BF Almanza Village in Las Pinas can hold you hostage inside their village if you don’t have a car pass and if you don’t pay them P40.

We were on our way to Las Pinas from Alabang via the Friendship Route when we suddenly decided to have the car washed in a car wash we frequented just outside of Pilar and BF Almanza villages.

Guess how surprised we were when we were stopped by the guard at the main gate of BF Almanza as we were exiting their village. Yes, exiting their village.

So we asked why.

The guard said that if we enter through the Friendship Route, we cannot exit their main gate but can only exit to Pilar via their other gate.

We told them we had a Friendship Route sticker but the guard told us the same thing.

“Ser, kailangan po ng car pass namen o kaya po magbabayad kayo,” said the guard.

Obviously, we did not have a car pass since we entered the village via the Friendship Route gate. We were curious so we asked how much we needed to pay.

We were thinking it would only be P20 just like the other gates like Moonwalk, Pilar and T.S. Cruz (are they still P20 by the way?). But the guard told us that we needed to pay P40 for us to be allowed to exit their village.

Talk about democracy in its worst state. Talk about taking you hostage inside their village.

What if you had an emergency? Would the guard still ask you for P40 “exit fee”? What if you were with a homeowner who escorted you or endorsed you to go inside but then does not go out with you?

As we were in a hurry (car wash closes at 9pm), we paid the P40 and were allowed to exit the village.

Here is an image of the receipt the guard issued:

They couldn’t even spell “Forty” right.

Payment for “ixit” or “intre”?

And whose signature is that?

A lot of questions.

Apparently, we weren’t the only victims of this dirty move by the First BF Homes Association, Inc. A lot of our Twitter and Facebook friends were also subjected to the same fate.

Are they authorized to do this? Aren’t they part of the Friendship Route therefore if you have a sticker you can enter and exit their village?

It’s okay to be refused entry into a village but to not be allowed to exit the village? That is just preposterous.

We are calling on the Las Pinas City government to look into this (although we heard the main gate of BF Almanza is ran by the local government–true?).

What is the legality of this measure by the BF Almanza homeowners association?

If for security reasons, are BF Almanza residents really safe inside their village?

If for road maintenance purposes, are the roads inside the subdivision really being repaired and maintained?

We call on the “authorized” authorities to take a look into this.

We do not want Las Pinas residents hostaged inside a village that employs Hitler-like rules.

Please do something about this “No Pay, No Exit Policy” or explain the rationale behind this.