Balikbayan experiences joys of Philippine condo living in DMCI Homes community

"It’s a community. Everyone looks out for each other.”

This is how university professor Rodolfo Ledesma joyfully describes the young neighborhood in Mirea Residences, one of DMCI Homes' latest ready for occupancy (RFO) mid-rise condominium developments located in Barangay Santolan, Pasig City.

Coming home after spending most of his life teaching in the United States and South Korea, Ledesma is happy to have found neighbors that support each member of the community even in simple ways like hailing a taxi.

“When you get off the taxi, then the taxi driver doesn’t see that there’s another passenger [a Mirea neighbor], who wants to get a ride, I point it out. ‘Hey, there’s a couple there who needs a ride.’ Or if a Grab driver pulled in and didn’t know which building to go, we’d say, ‘Oh, that’s the building.’ So you help out with each other. That’s nice."

Just simple joys that he never got to experience when he lived in a condo in the United States before, shares the part-time Ateneo de Manila University professor who moved to his three-bedroom unit in the resort-inspired development in November 2018.

"The one in the U.S. is not like this. This is, for me, a first time: having your neighbors help you organize something for the entire community of Mirea. That is new to me. I don’t see that in the U.S. I’m not sure if that thing exists. But anyway, it’s the first time I’m experiencing it here in Mirea.”

Coming Back to the Philippines

Born in Iloilo City, Rodolfo studied in the U.S. before becoming a professor of economics there for more than 20 years. Soon after, he moved to Korea where he also served as a university professor for eight and a half years.

On his return to the Philippines, he and his partner rented a place in barangay Alabang, Muntinlupa City, where they lived for almost a year. When the commute from Alabang to Quezon City became too much of a burden, the couple moved to a condominium unit in another DMCI Homes project in Pasig City—East Raya Gardens.

While they were still renting there, they thought of looking for a pre-selling place, which they could, in the near future, finally call their own. In 2016, they got lucky to find one in Mirea Residences which was then under construction.

"When we looked at DMCI Homes, it is very clear that the spaces are larger, the design of the building is much better. I understand that DMCI, last year, won the award for best amenities, among all other developers, for their design of Kai Garden Residences. So that speaks for the ability of DMCI to develop nice amenities," he points out when asked of their preference for DMCI Homes developments.

Since moving to Mirea Residences in November 2018—his commute to Ateneo has also been shortened to more than half the time it used to take him to travel every day. 

“It takes maybe just 15 to 20 minutes to get to work.” 

The convenience, he says, is not only for work, but also for other leisurely activities. Malls for instance, he says, are meters away from the area. “All of these things make it easy for us to do our shopping and eating, when we want to eat out, and so forth,” he says.

Ledesma who is also a freelance writer likewise revealed that he has been able to do more writing works since he moved to Mirea Residences: "In East Raya (Gardens), it was conducive to writing because it was relatively quiet. Here, it is even more quiet. I like the atmosphere here. It’s like you’re a bit away from the hustle and bustle of the city, but if you want to get back to it, it’s easy.”

A Family in His Neighbors

As he is busy sprucing up his three-bedroom unit, he is also glad to contribute to the development of the community in his own personal capacity.

Last December, Ledesma and his partner also helped organize a caroling group of kids which spread Christmas cheer among residents.

"Last Christmas, we were able to help, my partner especially, organize a caroling group which the parents loved. Some of them were crying of course when they saw their kids singing Christmas carols," he relates.

Though Mirea Residences just got completed in October 2018, Rodolfo likes what he is seeing in the young community. "Considering that we’re not even half a year here, we're already like happy to contribute to the development of the community. There’s nothing like this, where you make friends with your neighbors. And then you work together to do some projects for the community."

"We're getting there slowly,” he says happily.

Mirea Residences is one of the developments of DMCI Homes, the country’s first Quadruple A real estate developer known for building quality resort-inspired communities in Mega Manila, Baguio City, Boracay and Davao City. Built with world-standard craftsmanship borne from D.M. Consunji Inc.'s over 60 years of expertise in the construction and development industry, DMCI Homes continues to uphold its thrust of providing quality homes at best value on or ahead of time.

To learn more about Mirea Residences and other DMCI Homes projects, call (632) 324-8888.  News and other updates are also posted on the company's official social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.