Manila: Inside the walls of Malacañang Palace

I was at Malacañang Palace last Friday to attend the 6th International Youth Day celebrations and my awarding ceremonies as one of the UNAP Outstanding Youth Leaders for 2005. UNAP, which stands for United Nations Association of the Philippines, gives this award annually every August as part of the International Youth Day festivities. In the photo on the left is myself receiving the award from Presidential Daughter Luli Arroyo and Dr. Zahidul A. Huque, UNFPA Representative to the Philippines.

There were seven of us chosen to receive the award this year representing various fields of endeavor. I was recognized for advocacy in heritage conservation. At least that puts heritage conservation in the consciousness of young people one way or another... hehehe! I hope more young people join our cause.

Visitors are usually not allowed to bring cameras inside the palace grounds so I had to make do with the official photos of the event. For more on the colorful history and rich heritage of Malacañang, read Paolo Alcazaren's Philippine Star column State of the Palace.

Youth leaders awarded
Manila Bulletin 8/20/2005

With the theme, "Bagong Kabataan… BILIB Ako!," the United Nations Association of the Philippines (UNAP) 6TH International Youth Day Celebration was celebrated with Presidential Daughter Luli Macapagal Arroyo as guest speaker. Three hundred youth leaders attended the opening ceremony which highlighted young people’s initiatives in responding to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

One of the highlights of the celebration is the awarding of plaque of recognition to seven outstanding youth leaders, namely Ivan Anthony Henares of Pampanga for heritage preservation and cultural revival; John Rex Jardinero of Palawan for environmental education and advocacy; Juan Carlos Delos Reyes of Naga City for international understanding and volunteerism in Habitat for Humanities; Ramil Jaictin of Butuan City for youth empowerment through the mass media; St. Anthony Tiu of Manila for science and technology promotion and pro-poor community development initiatives; and Mario Marababol of Cebu for environmental conservation of marine resources and volunteerism for working youth program of DOLE. Thirty-seven youth leaders were nominated in the national search conducted in the last two months.

Manila: Our teachers teach us to cut trees

This could well be the phrase students in the City of Manila are uttering with the example being set by their teachers at the Manila Division of City Schools, a willing accessory to Mayor Lito Atienza’s cutting of centuries-old trees in the Arroceros Forest Park. “Old Manila’s last lung,” as Sylvia L. Mayuga puts it in her Philippine Daily Inquirer article dated April 17, 2005, Arroceros is the one of the last patches of green in a city made filthy both environmentally and politically.

And Mayuga could not have put it any better, “Where the reign of corruption is perfectly matched by traffic and pollution in all forms, sheep-like malling and commercial hype everywhere one turns, there's rare pleasure to be had among old trees that have somehow survived successive building booms burying nature under more steel and cement everyday.”

News last Friday of Manila City Hall’s rampage thus dealt a painful blow to efforts for sustainable urban development in a city which received the lowest ratings for quality of life among twelve metro cities nationwide in the most recent AIM Philippine Cities Competitiveness Ranking Project in 2003.

A stone’s throw away from SM City Manila, another of Atienza’s urban disasters, Arroceros is located at the foot of MacArthur Bridge. Untouched for many years and “discovered” by then Mayor Alfredo Lim and environmental advocates from the Winner Foundation in the early 1990s, the park was a 2.1 hectare inner-city oasis filled with century-old narra, molave, balete, rubber and acacia trees. By 1994, the foundation was able to plant an additional 3,500 saplings from 55 different species. To make the long story short, the area became a self-sustaining forest ecosystem, giving high hopes "that the area can regenerate itself into a mature forest ecosystem," according to a 2003 survey of the park.

Then comes Atienza and his so-called Buhayin ang MayniLA program. For several years, Atienza had been successful in desecrating and eradicating important cultural landmarks in Manila such as the Sky Room – the four-story art deco Jai Alai building designed by noted architect Welton Becket, Mehan Gardens, the YMCA where SM City Manila now stands, and the San Lazaro Hippodrome, which gave way to another of Henry Sy’s prefab monstrosities.

If not for heritage advocates, even the stately Army and Navy Club could already be another shopping mall. John Silva recalls that in year 2000, “[Atienza] tried to destroy the Army Navy building, now the Museo ng Maynila, and to gobble up the adjoining Museong Pambata by attempting to put up a boutique and shopping mall.”

The Arroceros Forest Park was next on his list.

“Don't tell me about the ecosystem; Manila has enough parks,” Atienza was reported to have said. “Why, I even ordered discounts on Manila Zoo entrance fees for Manila residents!” After effectively building a Park and Ride facility on Mehan Gardens, the lord mayor of MayniLA now wanted to construct a teachers’ dormitory in Arroceros. For any rational mind, it is difficult to fathom the explanation that the Arroceros Forest Park is the lone available site for teachers' quarters in Manila.

What disappoints reason is the fact that it was the Manila Division of City Schools which applied for a DENR permit to cut trees in the park. Can these public school teachers continue to face their students and teach them time-honored values such as caring for the environment?

Workers from Manila City Hall started balling and cutting trees last Thursday following orders from “higher ups.” By the time the Winner Foundation and the media had arrived, two trees had already been felled. They were however able to save a century-old narra tree which was next in line.

With this blatant disregard for the quality of life of his constituents, Lito Atienza should rename his program “Patayin ang MayniLA.”

Imagine that things like these are allegedly happening as well in the UP system. The Office of the Environment Ombudsman recommended last month the filing of criminal and administrative charges against UPLB Chancellor Dr. Wilfredo David for the alleged illegal cutting of two hardwood trees inside the LB campus last year, said to be worth P210,000. But that is another story. [Philippine Collegian, Vol. 83, No.6, 11 August 2005]

Related Articles
Conservationists battle to save Manila's forest park
Winner spirit blazes on for forest park
City Hall begins cutting trees at Arroceros Park
Old Manila's 'last lung'
Illegal logging case vs UPLB head endorsed

Write the DepEd Superintendent
MA. LUISA S. QUIÑONES
Superintendent
Division of City Schools
City Hall, Manila
manila@deped.gov.ph
527-5218 / 302-6736 / 527-5184 / 527-9910 / 302-6735

Ilocos Norte: More notes on empanada central

Sorry it took quite a while for the second part of my empanada binge. School work just piled up. Lucky for me, I'm on a six day weekend! I don't have classes on Tuesdays and Fridays. Classes were suspended by the administration last Thursday for President Roman's investiture and were suspended again on Monday due to the closure of Commonwealth Avenue. But it's a declared non-working holiday as well making it a double whammy on my professors' class schedules... hehe!

I could not believe my craving for Ilocos' sumptuous fritters is still alive since I really made it a point to buy an empanada at Ilocos Empanada in Katipunan last night.

Anyway, back to the Ilocos trip...

DAY 2. After breakfast, our first stop for the day was the third UNESCO World Heritage site in the Ilocos provinces, the Church of San Agustin in Paoay. On Paoay, Toti Villalon writes, "Built in 1710 under the direction of the Agustinian order, the ensemble of the church and detached bell towers are truly majestic in scale when viewed from the edge of the plaza that faces the ensemble. Detached from the church façade the bell tower tapers as it rises from the ground in a fashion reminiscent of a pagoda. The stone façade is plain at the bottom. Light, elegant decorative carving is applied close to the top of the pediment. A row of feathery stone finials that seem to gently brush the sky with delicate Oriental strokes accentuate the triangular top of the pediment. The earthquake protection system in this structure is probably its most dramatic feature. Exaggeratedly thick buttresses protrude quite a distance from the ground to be countered by a smaller volute near roof level topped by a stone finial. Swirling upwards to the sky, the massive stone buttresses take on a magical lightness."

I not only went around the church but took a quick walk around the vicinity. I did not want to take photos of the Spanish-period municipio since they were currently constructing an annex on one of its two azoteas/balconajes or whatever those are called. Sigh!

Beside it was the Gabaldon school building of Paoay. One thing I noticed about Ilocos towns is that they have small houses but massive churches and belltowers detached from the main church. Whereas in Pampanga, there are magnificent and elaborate mansions but smaller churches. Jojo Mata later explained that in Ilocos, most churches also doubled as forts, serving as protection against Chinese or Moro pirates. The massive belltowers were built at a distance to protect the church from damage in case the tower collapsed during an earthquake.

Since we didn't have that much time, I wasn't able to visit the other side of the church where one could find the ruins of the church convento. Maybe next time.

Next on the itinerary was the "imperial birthblace" of the Marcos clan back in Batac. Reinventing family heritage is what has been done in Batac, a result of the dillusions of royalty of my fraternity brod, President Ferdinand E. Marcos and First Lady Imelda R. Marcos. Since the Marcos Mausoleum is in Batac, people often mistake the town for his birthplace when he was actually born in Sarrat. The museum of another fraternity brod, Marcos' chief rival Sen. Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, finds itself in a similar situation being located on the Cojuanco property of Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac City rather than the Aquino hometown of Concepcion, Tarlac.

Batac underwent a sort of metamorphosis during the Marcos administration to make it appeal to the fantasies and edifice complex of the former first family. And the Marcos Mausoleum is the pinnacle of that folly with the mortal remains of the late dictator preserved and enshrined there. The advanced wax preservation technique used to keep his body intact was employed in the hope of pushing the Marcos legend beyond Philippine shores, putting him side by side with other powerful leaders such as Vlademir I. Lenin, Mao Zedong, and Ho Chi Minh whose embalmed bodies have been preserved for future generations.

After paying homage to the Apo, it was off to the provincial capital, Laoag City to visit the Museo Iloko, the obra mata, I mean maestra of Archt. Jojo Mata. The award winning project, the adaptive reuse of an old Tabacalera building, gives visitors a glimpse of the culture of Ilocos Norte. After that brief tour, we were given time to loiter around Laoag. So it was off to the plaza for photos.

One sad thing about Laoag is the new symbol that welcomes you. Before, it was only the massive sinking belltower which one saw while traversing the bridge that brought you to the town proper. Now you have golden arches as well. The local government should be hanged to dry from the big yellow "M" for allowing such an incident to happen. They should follow the lead of UPLB officials who raised hell and ordered the removal of the large golden arches which were installed near the entrance of the UPLB campus.

After taking photos, it was back to the dap-ayan where the bus was waiting. And another two servings of empanada! With my stomach filled, I had to skip the picnic lunch we were going to have in Sarrat, the birthplace of Marcos, which was put on the social map as a result of the elaborate and costly wedding of Irene Marcos to Greggy Araneta.

The facade of the Sarrat Church actually collapsed together with the belltower during an earthquake in the early 1980s. It was repaired just in time for the Marcos-Araneta nuptial. Beside it is a huge convento and a complex of brick ruins that used to house government offices such as a courthouse and jail. Labels to rooms read "Torture Chamber" and "Garrote Room" reminding visitors of the grim happenings that used to occur in the place. After lunch, it was off to Pagudpud with a brief but important stopover in Burgos.

A UNESCO World Heritage hopeful under the listing "Lighthouses of the Philippines" and if those proposing their inclusion get their act right, the Cape Bojeador Lighthouse in Burgos is simply stunning, a solitary masterpiece majestically perched on the foothills at the northern tip of Luzon. As people well-versed in UNESCO selections would say, it's a matter of packaging if you want to get listed. Believe it or not, the city of Rome was rejected when it applied the first time mainly because they submitted the whole city which had a lot of alterations already. But the current listing shows that they selected important sites in the city now listed as the Historic Centre of Rome.

Some people are proposing to have all the lighthouses declared. But part of application is proof that a site can and will be preserved. Some lighthouses are already in bad shape. And these rotten eggs may become the reason for the rejection of the whole lot. It would thus be better to pick say three or five of the best examples of Philippine lighthouses for submission to the UNESCO list. That way, the pitch would be more managable with lesser opportunities for scrutiny from the UNESCO experts.

Batanes had to learn the hard way with their rejection last year. In fact, the islands were a shoe in for listing. But the provincial government played know it all, or in the vernacular, nagmarunong! They felt they could do it on their own and purposely did not contact the Philippine experts who had been hard at work preparing the application for Batanes. To make the long story short and to put it bluntly, they fucked up the application requirements.

Nothing was to stop us from a dip in Pagudpud after Burgos. Nothing except the windmills of Bangui which led to a five minute stop. And a storm brewing which brought waves lashing along the shoreline! But despite the intermitent downpour and gray skies, a swim in the beach was a fun finish to the Ilocos tour.

It was now time to begin the trip down. But not without a stop in Laoag's dap-ayan for more empanadas! Hehe! The stopover was actually for those who wanted to buy bagnet but I had something else on my food list, two empanadas for dinner. After a brief stop in our dorm in Batac, it was back to Manila and straight to class. We arrived 9 a.m. Monday, just in time for me to cram a paper and attend my 10 a.m. class.

More Ilocos Norte photos at my Yahoo! Photos. Thanks to Karlo de Leon for photos of myself and the empanadas... hehehe! You can check out his photos at http://www.photonski.com/keinite