The land which covers Baseco today was once the location of a dockyard of the National Shipyard and Steel Corporation (NASSCO).

In the late 1970s, the urban poor population were resettled by the Marcos administration to give space for a possible international seaport.

Following the People Power Revolution of 1986, the national government under Marcos' successor Corazon Aquino sequestered the property and the urban poor population began to resettle the area.

[3] Baseco consists of Engineer's Island including two stone breakwaters one which borders the Pasig River and another the South Harbor.

[1] The area also has a beach which is frequented by some Manila residents despite dangerous levels of coliform in its adjacent waters.