The Enlisted Men's Barrio, commonly known as Embo (stylized in all caps), refers to the collective term for ten barangays in Taguig, Philippines.
[15] Mamancat was known as a trading hub alongside its more developed neighbor, Aguho (now Barangay Agujo, Pateros) during the Spanish colonial era.
[19] At the end of the Philippine–American War, the United States colonial administration established the Fort William McKinley at the center of present-day Metro Manila.
After the conclusion of the war, the Philippines would be granted full independence by the United States in 1946 but retained control over its military bases.
The reservation was renamed as Fort Bonifacio and the government made plans to create settlements for military personnel within the vicinity of the installation.
[11] Cembo would be the first settlements among the EMBO barangays to be established, when the first batch of enlisted servicemen from the Infantry Group, Philippine Ground Force from Floridablanca, Pampanga arriving in 1949 to settle in the area.
Prior to the creation of Rizal, Pembo was larger than the municipality of Pateros, with a land area of 123 hectares (300 acres) and a population of 65,000 in 1995.
[25][31] The Fort Bonifacio area and the Embo barangays would be subject of a territorial dispute between the city governments of Taguig and Makati.
[8] On the dispositive portion of the Supreme Court of the Philippines ruling on December 1, 2021, it reinstated the Writ of Preliminary Injunction dated August 2, 1994 issued by the RTC of Pasig, explicitly referring to Parcels 3 and 4, Psu-2031, comprising Fort Bonifacio, be made permanent insofar as it enjoined the Municipality, now City of Makati, from exercising jurisdiction over, making improvements on, or otherwise treating as part of its territory, Parcels 3 and 4, Psu-2031, comprising Fort Bonifacio.
If Makati insists on ownership and continues to deprive the Embo citizens of public facilities, they can be considered as builders in bad faith, and Taguig, as rightful owner of the land, is entitled to remedies to rectify this.
Similar to the 1989 and 2001 Camarines Norte–Quezon (Santa Elena–Calauag) territorial dispute Supreme Court cases, in which the ruling was in favor of Santa Elena, Camarines Norte, was able to gain most of the government properties in the disputed barangays like barangay halls, schools, covered courts without the need for the writ of execution.
[33] On November 8, 2023, the Department of the Interior and Local Government released a memo dated October 26, 2023 transferring the control of the Embo barangays to Taguig.
[34] In September 2024, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a legal opinion that buildings and structures located in the Enlisted Men’s Barrios (EMBO) barangays previously part of Makati are under the jurisdiction of Taguig.
[35] On June 28, 2024, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) formally listed the Embo barangays to be under Taguig, thereby making them eligible to vote in the 2025 Taguig local elections, for mayor, vice mayor, and city council, but initially not for the congressman (district representative) position.
The predominantly Roman Catholic population in the Embo barangays, particularly the areas previously controlled by Makati, is served by five parishes under the Archdiocese of Manila.
[47] The Mater Dolorosa Parish of the Amigonian Fathers and Brothers in East Rembo was established on September 8, 1987 through a decree by Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin.