Rockwell, I saw you being born.
Sappy? This thought crossed my mind in the din and dazzle of last New Year’s Eve, as I gazed up at the bursts of fireworks mushrooming behind the rooftop of 8Rockwell. Crowds had massed on Hidalgo Drive to watch the display at the stroke of midnight. By now, the Rockwell fireworks display has become an annual spectacle anticipated by many in Metro Manila to welcome the new year, apart from the arches of glittering bright red poinsettias at PowerPlant Mall that have become the iconic symbol of a Metro Manila Christmas.
And to think Rockwell was just a cardboard display on our meeting room table, I thought to myself as friends around me bussed and greeted each other “Happy New Year.” In the late ‘90s, we would espy Kapitan Geny Lopez, the patriarch of the Lopez conglomerate, preside over a few meetings in that room behind a glass partition, in our Benpres Publishing office (which, shortly before Kapitan’s death in 1999, would become ABS-CBN Publishing under the wing of the broadcast giant). The scale model of Rockwell would be propped up before him on the table. He would point at this and that “tower”—the concept of the 15-hectare mixed-use development assuming shape with his words.
Today not only is Rockwell an impressive reality, it has also become, arguably, the most prestigious high-rise address in Metro Manila. It raised the bar for urban lifestyle in the country, if not in the region—self-contained, convenient and accessible, yet with relative peace and quiet. And—it must be the only spot in Metro Manila where a pedestrian can cross the lane without fear of being run over, for it is where road traffic rule is followed no fail. Day-to-day civility survives.

Aruga Mactan in Cebu
More than that, Rockwell is now a prestige brand that resonates here and abroad. It has expanded its real estate development outside of Metro Manila, to Pampanga in the north, Laguna and Batangas in the south, and to Mactan, Cebu, in the Visayas.

Proscenium Link connects the Rockwell development.

The Proscenium Retail Row
In 2025, it will have significant launches that include developments in Batangas, and the opening of the theater at Proscenium, hopefully to become a seat of Philippine performing arts. Then the Lopez Museum and Library, whose Philippine art collection and library are considered the oldest and most extensive among those of private institutions, is also to have its home at the Proscenium.
So—one is not to be blamed if one views the New Year revelry with nostalgia, like I did. The mirage of fireworks in the sky touched off a reel of memories in my mind, some funny, others poignant, but all highly personal and special.
You see, Rockwell has been an experience linked to our life-defining career in magazine publishing, back in the ‘90s when ABS-CBN Publishing (its forerunner, Benpres Publishing) was building titles such as Metro Magazine, Food, StarStudio, and had to stage events to lure advertisers with a complete package.

Rockwell Carmelray in the south
One sundown as I sipped coffee at Starbucks at One Rockwell, I felt a sense of irony that reminiscing often brings. One Rockwell, where I now sat, was where Loft was, my ex-Publishing colleague reminded me—if we remember the location right—and it was at the Loft showroom, upstairs, where we staged the Metrowear mini one-man show of Cesar Gaupo, attended by no less than Gaupo’s loyal client, patroness and longtime friend, Tessie Sy-Coson, the woman power behind SM. As early as the ‘80s, Sy-Coson was already supporting Filipino fashion designers through SM ready-to-wear (i.e. SM Boutique Square), and Gaupo was among those who proved his design mettle at the start. That night, Sy-Coson was visibly enjoying Gaupo’s fashion collection at the Loft.
Now who would have thought that the day would come when I’d be coming home to what was once our events place?
Across from One Rockwell was what used to be an empty field fronting the PowerPlant. It was there that Metro built a stage for a huge fashion show of the magazine’s Body Calendar, the trademark theme of its January issue that had been much awaited every year, mainly because it was—body! In cutting-edge photography by the era’s top lensmen, it featured, representing every month of the year, famous celebrities and prominent figures (including businessmen) whom readers never expected to pose for a shoot—in the nude. The fashion show on the Rockwell empty lot was meant to generate the buzz for that issue, again mainly for advertisers and the consumer market we were trying to build. However, walking the runway were not necessarily the subjects of the magazine pictorial, but the hunks of show biz—a hunk fest, in short, antedating the iconic Bench Body show.
Today sometimes the sight of PowerPlant brings back images of the Body Calendar, and our behind-the-scenes hard work and stress on that empty field. (Signage! Where are the signages?! Expletives omitted)
And then there was the iconic Rockwell tent that the GenZ staff of today’s Rockwell Land would not even have any idea of. The pyramid-shaped tent, not the more recent one. This pyramid tent housed the tennis court on the ground floor, and was copied by other property developments (like our own Palms Country Club in the south). It was there where our tennis lessons were held, at night, after office hours, and of course, Publishing’s other fashion events. Honestly, no matter that it was much copied by other builders, that tent made for a bad tennis court simply because it let the downpour in, even a drizzle, and left the slippery court unplayable.
Even in the early 2000s, Rockwell was already much copied, whether it was for that tent, or much later on, the live music at the Food Court
Well, it proved that even in the early 2000s, Rockwell was already much copied, whether it was for that tent, and much later on, the live music at the Food Court—piano or sax or acoustic guitar. That live music played by artists, whom the Food Court denizens ultimately got familiar with, has helped make Rockwell a weekly, if not daily, habit.
The restaurant row on Lopez Avenue, especially its al fresco dining in the evening, helps complete the Rockwell lifestyle. Add to that the gourmet dining pop-up experience at Balmori Suites, such as the latest by Taupe by Chef Kiko Tolentino, which we enjoyed that New Year’s Eve.
Rockwell is where people can meet friends and family, or accidentally run into friends and family. Almost always, you run into somebody you know at Rockwell. Writers such as Jessica Zafra and the late Nelson Navarro were regulars seen seated in their own spots at the Food Court, or the café on the second level. Sometimes I even have a feeling who among my friends I will run into—and where—at Rockwell. (There’s a “tita corner” there, by the way.)

Edades West taking shape at Rockwell Center Makati
Rockwell is where you catch up over gourmet meals, comfort food or food court fare, as if Rockwell was a world unto itself, insulated from the frenetic pace of Metro Manila.
In that way is Rockwell a “people experience.”
Flashback to the early 2000s. Lopez Avenue wasn’t that busy at all, certainly not the way it is today, so we had every chance to do our magazine launches on that street. To launch Metro WorkingMom, we turned Lopez Avenue into a street runway, and staged a fashion show featuring celebrity moms, or simply prominent working moms, with their children. Hand in hand, the moms and their kids walked the long—very long—street runway, to the nonstop coaxing, the cheers and generous applause of a big audience, all of it captive. How could you lose, right?
Years later, it would be in the bigger tent (now the Balmori Suites side), where we held bigger Metrowear fashion shows, also where I launched my book under Inquirer Books, i’m afraid of heights (or why I can’t social-climb), attended by a friend, then President Noynoy Aquino, who delivered his remarks, and by Ambassador Manolo Lopez and his wife Maritess. Rockwell president Nestor “Tong” Padilla helped me and my team with the preparations, and was a valuable moral support; he had my back, so to speak.
Rockwell signified success in our life, hard-earned personal success—ingenious events and projects that turned into milestones
Come to think of it, Rockwell signified success in our life, hard-earned personal success—ingenious events and projects that turned into milestones.
These were milestones that became memories. For keeps.
Just like Rockwell Land itself.
I remember the pivotal press conference held by Kapitan Geny Lopez himself to introduce the Rockwell that was set to rise from what used to be a power plant. How convenient and safe would it be, an investigative reporter pressed on. Kapitan gave a short, straight reply—“I and my family will live there.” End of questions.
Rockwell hit the ground running. Indeed in those early years, take a number, as they say, if you wanted to reserve a unit at Rizal Tower that was then being constructed. The demand was palpable, and Manila’s “500” wanted to invest in the address, not to be left out.
Yet this huge demand apparently didn’t lull the Rockwell management into complacency. It is no urban legend, it is a fact, that Tong Padilla would drive around the sidewalk curb and step down to check if the road cement was smooth enough. And years later, I would tell him that I didn’t expect that one of the “perks” (in quotes, take note) of staying at Rockwell was to run into him in the elevator early in the morning as he did his start-of-the-day rounds. Hands-on management—that’s an understatement to describe Rockwell over the decades.
Rockwell is like my personal “back to the future”—a feeling of hope, a momentum of youthful energy fueled by old memories. I don’t want to forget.
Cheers to 2025!