Heritage Watch - Compiled Threads

[Wonderboy]

Heritage Watch

I was a little adamant in starting this thread as I don’t know how long would it last, however, since our country’s heritage sites and historic landmarks are slowly disappearing, here’s hoping that this thread would serve as message board to save the remaining structures that we have.

I’d like to start with a place closer to home: Manila (I would also like to encourage everyone from other regions/ provinces to post here. I will send the weblink of this thread to government agencies and NGOs).

An old house along San Rafael Street will be demolished sometime soon. I took some pictures yesterday during the San Miguel walk:

http://img481.imageshack.us/img481/4931/hw11wd.jpg
The sign says it all. Exact address: 333 San Rafael Street, San Miguel, Manila

http://img130.imageshack.us/img130/5482/hw26qa.jpg
The house dates back to early 1920s.

http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/369/hw39ms.jpg

http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/803/hw41cj.jpg

Firms/ Companies involved in the demolition project:

LBC Comunidades Development, Incorporated
J.T. Mañosa and Associates (Architects)
Export and Industry Bank
La Casarita Developers (Tel. No.8906265/ 8906326)

http://img78.imageshack.us/img78/814/hw59dz.jpg

The interiors of the house:

http://img126.imageshack.us/img126/8905/hw67hj.jpg

http://img357.imageshack.us/img357/8462/hw70hg.jpg

http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/5086/hw85kt.jpg

http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/8512/hw06dr.jpg
There’s even a Rolls Royce in the backyard!

http://img122.imageshack.us/img122/2842/hw98qy.jpg
Yes, this is privately owned and it would take extraordinary circumstances to prevent the demolition team from destroying a historic landmark. But if we take the initiative to save this house as well as other sites, people without any cultural sensitivity will be enlightened.

Below is the contact information of the developer:

La Casarita
LBC Comunidades Development, Incorporated
Tel. No. 8906265/ 8906326

NGOs/ Government agencies:

National Commission for Culture and the Arts
5235382 (for Heritage Sites)

Heritage Conservation Society Secretariat
5212239/ 5222497/ 09178668853

Ms. Melly Almosara
National Historical Institute
TM Kalaw Street, Ermita, Manila

[overtureph]

This is very sad. What a nice house and what a car! Must be one (old) rich family. Is this the street behind San Sebastian and Kentucky (Recto)? Who's house it it? Did they sold the house and the Rolls Royce too?

[Askal82]

:ohno: Sayang naman.

[overtureph]

This isn't to discourage anybody, but a few years back, we tried to form a committee in order to save the convento of a provincial church. The convento was used as a school for a number of years and was reverted back to the parish. At first they floated the idea - believe it or not- of putting up an international fast food chain and demolishing the convento. If this isn't surreal or plain stupid, I don't know what is. Well, after voicing our objections to a fast food chain and having the support of parishioners, that plan was shelved. But they (go figure it out who THEY are) where still adamant in having the convento demolished. Without doing any scientific test as I heard, one of the contractors declared the structure unfit (after standing for more or less 150 years hmmm.....). So we did our own ocular inspection, although we didn't do any test either, we found the structure the same as it was when it was being used as a school. In other words, by the look of it, it doesnt look its going to collapse or anything.

Once the food chain idea was defeated, came the main concern of (they) is that it is a fire hazard. If we follow this logic, most old churches has an adjacent or attached fire hazard to it. We presented our arguments and proposal for its other uses. Since the church has a museum which very few of the parishioners knew existed (I guess, since they seem to be surprised to hear in the meetings that there was one), we suggested of moving the museum to the old convento for more visibility and put up a cafe. But nooooooooooooooooo.

So we got an architect who has a firm in Makati and pro bono at that, helped us drew several plans as alternatives and for conservation purposes. Like for example, since one of the main concern was fire (hazzard), we had a plan of just demolishing the part connecting it to the church. And heres the ironic part. Thinking the old convento was a fire hazzard, would you believe that it was the other more recent convento that the they where using that was burned. Tsk tsk. But that incident seemed to have sealed the fate of the old one. They seem to deduced that since the convento that they were using burned to the ground, lets demolish the old one.

May I add also, that one of (they) had the bright idea of demolishing the convento and turning it into a ruins with a garden. Duh????????????????

So what happened, we didn't win. Why? It was like fighting cityhall (but it was worth it). And the usual apathy of the people. I am just hoping that there was a lesson to be learned here for the sake of our culture and history.

Thanks to people like Augusto Villalon, Bambi Harper, Paolo Alcazaren, Ambeth Ocampo, Fr. Rene Javellana, Fr. Pedro Gallende, Regalado Trota Jose, Wonderboy, Animo and to all those people in this thread whose campaigning and educating us, of and for, our heritage and history. It seems things are changing although slowly, but at least it seems people are more aware of what they have and what they are loosing. In addition, there where also succesful conservation projects that where done.

So I hope something be done to conserve the house and hopefully the car too. I think we have more than enough SHOE BOX architecture already.

Great work Wonderboy.

[ishtefh_03]

anyone here who is part/member of the heritage conservation society?? i know up pa lng may chapter, sana mayroon rin sa ust...

[Wonderboy]

anyone here who is part/member of the heritage conservation society?? i know up pa lng may chapter, sana mayroon rin sa ust...

I'm a member Steph. :)

Ms. Roz Li, a volunteer based in NYC mentioned that UST should also have its own HCS chapter.

[ishtefh_03]

^^wow!! member ako kaso sa yahoo groups ako nag join kaya ung inbox ko puro msg ng hsc then i compiled it... and my heritage-youth rin diba??? oo nga dapat meron ang ust, ilakad ko kaya... hmmn... kaso matrabaho...

[ishtefh_03]

pano poh ba mag pa member dun??

[Wonderboy]

^^wow!! member ako kaso sa yahoo groups ako nag join kaya ung inbox ko puro msg ng hsc then i compiled it... and my heritage-youth rin diba??? oo nga dapat meron ang ust, ilakad ko kaya... hmmn... kaso matrabaho...

Steph, that would be good. I know it would be very tedious but if it's for the sake of protecting what's left for the next generation, your brave move would serve its purpose and encourage more people to be involved in conserving our heritage.

A close colleague mentioned that UST really should put up HCS chapter since the UST admins/ board of directors are putting up gymnasiums, courts, etc. without giving much importance to the fact that the entire UST should be declared a heritage site.

[Wonderboy]

pano po ba mag pa member dun??

You may get call Heritage Conservation Society Secretariat
5212239/ 5222497/ 09175668853 (c/o Ms. Dorie).

[Wonderboy]

Thanks to people like Augusto Villalon, Bambi Harper, Paolo Alcazaren, Ambeth Ocampo, Fr. Rene Javellana, Fr. Pedro Gallende, Regalado Trota Jose, Wonderboy, Animo and to all those people in this thread whose campaigning and educating us, of and for, our heritage and history. It seems things are changing although slowly, but at least it seems people are more aware of what they have and what they are loosing. In addition, there where also succesful conservation projects that where done.

So I hope something be done to conserve the house and hopefully the car too. I think we have more than enough SHOE BOX architecture already.

Great work Wonderboy.

Thanks for the kind words Overtureph. The battle has just started to save the old house from demolition.

[Coffee]

I kinda hate to say it, but that house in its current state is an eyesore. It looks neglected and grimy. It could potentially look good with some renovations and upkeep, but the owners of the place apparently didn't care to maintain it. And the project set to replace it-- though its no architectural masterpiece-- looks like a clean and welcome development. I don't want to seem historically insensitive... I do have a lot of appreciation for history, but not everything from the 1920s is worth saving simply for being old.

[Edmundtanso]

another one =( our gov't officials are just so pathethic......what are they doing??? soon or later there wont be anything to show historical buildings to the generations to come.

i wish there is a law that prevent such building being demolished and such buildings being neglected.....errrrrrr

[Wonderboy]

I kinda hate to say it, but that house in its current state is an eyesore. It looks neglected and grimy. It could potentially look good with some renovations and upkeep, but the owners of the place apparently didn't care to maintain it. And the project set to replace it-- though its no architectural masterpiece-- looks like a clean and welcome development. I don't want to seem historically insensitive... I do have a lot of appreciation for history, but not everything from the 1920s is worth saving simply for being old.

Coffee, thanks for your opinion.

For your enlightenment, below are two photos of Orchid Garden Suites located at Vito Cruz Street, Manila:

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/1303/og3uy.jpg
Justice Antonio Villareal residence, built ca. 1932. Pablo Antonio, architect

http://img414.imageshack.us/img414/8894/facade2xy.jpg

As you can see in the new photo, the old house has been spared from demolition and now serves as a lobby and function area.

Old houses that are derelict would definitely look grimy - this is a sad fact. But that doesn't mean that it has to be demolished. 1920s to 1930s was the height of Phil. art deco - one of most celebrated 'high art' and a great achievement in Phil. architecture.

Yes, the project that would replace the old house is clean - malamang, it's a new structure. Assuming you're pertaining to the architectural design that you think is 'clean,' well, a shoe box design has clean, fine lines but I think it pales in comparison to the one that should be spared from demolition.

The Orchid Garden Suites is a perfect example of how an old structure can be turned into something new and there’s no need to demolish a piece of heritage simply because it looks grimy and neglected.

[Hawayano]

i wish there is a law that prevent such building being demolished and such buildings being neglected.....errrrrrr

I agree, Ed--does the national government or City of Manila offer property owners any incentives for historic prservation of such homes? That has saved a number of such structures from destruction here in Honolulu and the US. And while the non-descript "La Casarita" may be practical and serve a greater residential density, why can't speculators choose to build elsewhere? The remaining old San Miguel houses should be placed on a national historic register of sorts that would ensure a consistently clean and uncongested district surrounding Malacañang. Not to sound arrogantly suplado, but foreign visitors find Manila too chaotic and lacking in aesthetic qualities--so to a degree we have ourselves to blame for their raving about neighboring Asian capitals while trashing ours.

Thanks for expanding our awareness, Wonderboy--I'll go draft some letters when I get into the office later today.

[Hawayano]

Wonderboy--
Thanks for citing the example of Orchid Garden Suites as one recourse for developers to retain a sense of character that is historically Manila! I would thing that historic preservation would appeal to the cultural sensibilities of Filipinos, since we tend to gravitate toward our roots when overseas. However, the unfortunate quick-fix seems to lean toward get-rich-quick-and-easy instead. Gratefully, Orchid Suites offers very clear evidence of a superior solution!

[drfeelgood17]

^ This thread is a great idea Wonderboy for raising awareness about our endangered heritage (rather like endangered species...!)
I feel sad about those houses that are about to be demolished...especially when you know that they are going to be replaced by dull, character-less "condos" with "subdivision architecture". I really dislike these pre-fab styles....
The old Rolls is a great find btw...I'm amazed it's survived the ravages of the of the years!

[OtAkAw]

Anyone who will directly or indirectly destroy a historical structure must be exterminated!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ishtefh_03]

Steph, that would be good. I know it would be very tedious but if it's for the sake of protecting what's left for the next generation, your brave move would serve its purpose and encourage more people to be involved in conserving our heritage.

A close colleague mentioned that UST really should put up HCS chapter since the UST admins/ board of directors are putting up gymnasiums, courts, etc. without giving much importance to the fact that the entire UST should be declared a heritage site.

well, yeah, goal ng UST yun onward 2011 kaya ang daming tinatayo sa UST ngayon, nagiging crowded na nga ang UST because of the new building being build around...

You may get call Heritage Conservation Society Secretariat
5212239/ 5222497/ 09175668853 (c/o Ms. Dorie).
thanks poh!!! :)

[overtureph]

I kinda hate to say it, but that house in its current state is an eyesore. It looks neglected and grimy. It could potentially look good with some renovations and upkeep, but the owners of the place apparently didn't care to maintain it. And the project set to replace it-- though its no architectural masterpiece-- looks like a clean and welcome development. I don't want to seem historically insensitive... I do have a lot of appreciation for history, but not everything from the 1920s is worth saving simply for being old.

No offense meant and I do respect your opinion, but I think this was how generally Filipinos thought back then and up to know. So as what we can see and experience today, is a result of this kind of thinking. To exaggerate it a bit, let us think what if the Greeks thought of the Parthenon and the whole of the Acropolis as just a bunch of ruins and not worth conserving. A mall and a restaurant with a great view would have made a better replacement.

And may I just add, this kind of attitude in my opinion, is why we lose out to tourist to places like Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia etc.

I am of the belief that if we keep doing this, in the future, our culture and history would be neither here, nor there.

[ishtefh_03]

just like what happened to Jose abad santos house in Pampanga, they demolished it. they could have turned it na lng as a museum...

[Wonderboy]

There are other structures particularly in San Fernando, Pampanga that should be preserved. I went there last December for a writing assignment and man, the locals should be informed that their province is rich in culture and history.

[Wonderboy]

Another prewar structure on the ‘endangered’ list is the Monte de Piedad building located at Ongpin Street, Sta. Cruz, Manila. Although, the building is still in use and is now owned by Keppel Bank, this piece of gem in downtown Manila has been neglected through the years.

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/4964/mp17sq.jpg

Aside from the fact that Monte de Piedad badly needs thorough cleaning and a paint job, proper restoration should also be done to save the building.

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/7153/mp21dh.jpg

http://img327.imageshack.us/img327/170/mp34fj.jpg

I would also like to encourage everyone to post some photos here or articles related to heritage conservation.

[overtureph]

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a89/overtureph/MontedePiedad1.jpg

[evangelistik]

!!!

That Rolls Royce alone is worth more than any projects they're trying to put up post-demolition...

?!!?!

[pau_p1]

A close colleague mentioned that UST really should put up HCS chapter since the UST admins/ board of directors are putting up gymnasiums, courts, etc. without giving much importance to the fact that the entire UST should be declared a heritage site.

but I think that UST's move on continuous construction is very conscious on the kind of structure that they build... one example is the multilevel parking in front of the UST Hospital.. I believe that they have designed it to match the Main Bldgs architecture... though I haven't seen the finish product yet...

but I agree that UST should be a heritage site... that is why I would agree with Manila's city council on not allowing an overhead rail system along Espana Blvd because it might block the view of the university...

[ishtefh_03]

There are other structures particularly in San Fernando, Pampanga that should be preserved. I went there last December for a writing assignment and man, the locals should be informed that their province is rich in culture and history.

madami talaga, ung mga old houses na iba... and also in angeles city, good thing there this center for kapampangan studies...

[ishtefh_03]

but I think that UST's move on continuous construction is very conscious on the kind of structure that they build... one example is the multilevel parking in front of the UST Hospital.. I believe that they have designed it to match the Main Bldgs architecture... though I haven't seen the finish product yet...

but I agree that UST should be a heritage site... that is why I would agree with Manila's city council on not allowing an overhead rail system along Espana Blvd because it might block the view of the university...

well, ung Multi level parking in front of UST is more like a modern structure to me, di sya mukhang ni match sa main building... and also the new building being build in front of USt library, ung student center, modern na ung dating nya, tinakpan pa ung view ng USt library from dapitan...

[JustHorace]

Maybe you guys should check the Beirut thread. Beirut was known to the world as the Paris of the MidEast till a civil broke out in Lebanon during the 70s. The war destroyed virtually everything in the city. And now, even if they're still recovering from the war, Beirut is rapidly transforming into an elegant European-looking city. And take note, they're not a rich country at all.

[Askal82]

http://img327.imageshack.us/img327/170/mp34fj.jpg

What a big mess! :runaway:

[ishtefh_03]

http://img327.imageshack.us/img327/170/mp34fj.jpg

What a big mess! :runaway:

naku kelangan ayusin yang mga lines, baka magkaroon pa ng short circuit dyan...

[manileño]

I'm a member Steph. :)

Ms. Roz Li, a volunteer based in NYC mentioned that UST should also have its own HCS chapter.


Hello Jepoy! Great job on this thread. So what exactly do you do at HCS? Take pics and do reports for LGUs? Does it have a website? Also, this Li is based abroad, does that mean expats can join too? And what/how can we contribute? :)

[pau_p1]

well, ung Multi level parking in front of UST is more like a modern structure to me, di sya mukhang ni match sa main building... and also the new building being build in front of USt library, ung student center, modern na ung dating nya, tinakpan pa ung view ng USt library from dapitan...


the Student Center is being built on the old Coop lot right?... it will be 3 or 5 storeys tall right?... is it finished already?... UST had planned that since 1999... to have the cooperative canteen still at the ground floor with student areas on upper levels...

UST even had a plan of buildng an underground parking beneath the football field of the Eng'g complex.. they are 2 of 4 projects by Fr. Pinto.. the other two is completing the 10storey Beato Angelico Bldg and the renovation of the UST Health Center (that buildng between Main Bldg and Hospital across Security Bank)... this was discussed to us when I attended the seminar for leaders of all organizations of UST...

[Wonderboy]

Hello Jepoy! Great job on this thread. So what exactly do you do at HCS? Take pics and do reports for LGUs? Does it have a website? Also, this Li is based abroad, does that mean expats can join too? And what/how can we contribute? :)

Hey there Juan! :) I'm a only a student member of HCS but I volunteered to take pictures and send out reports to HCS secretariat and HCS yahoogroups. It's a tedious task really since it's only a one-man team.

Unfortunately HCS website is still under construction. In the meantime, you can register to HCS yahoogroups. Just visit yahoo groups and search for Heritage Conservation Society.

I met Ms. Roz Li during the San Miguel tour and she said that she's a member of a heritage conservation group based in NYC. Sorry for the confusion. Ms. Li isn't a member of HCS Phils. but her group in NYC would soon coordinate with HCS here in Manila for future projects and activities. I can send her e-mail address in case you want to get in touch with her.

[Wonderboy]

And what/how can we contribute? :)

Thanks again Juan for bringing up the question.

For those who would like to report any heritage sites within the Philippine archipelago that are "endangered," you may post pictures/captions on this thread and I will send the link via e-mail to HCS and other government agencies responsible for protecting our heritage sites. I will also take the time for make a follow-up call if needed and coordinate with the HCS secretariat.

Articles/ photos/ weblinks related to heritage conservation can also be posted on this thread.

For those who would like to report a heritage site in danger but would like to remain anonymous, you may send me a private message.

[ishtefh_03]

the Student Center is being built on the old Coop lot right?... it will be 3 or 5 storeys tall right?... is it finished already?... UST had planned that since 1999... to have the cooperative canteen still at the ground floor with student areas on upper levels...

UST even had a plan of buildng an underground parking beneath the football field of the Eng'g complex.. they are 2 of 4 projects by Fr. Pinto.. the other two is completing the 10storey Beato Angelico Bldg and the renovation of the UST Health Center (that buildng between Main Bldg and Hospital across Security Bank)... this was discussed to us when I attended the seminar for leaders of all organizations of UST...

nope, it not in the old coop lot, actually nung una dun sya talaga pero di na tinuloy because pag nag excavate daw sila dun baka maapectuhan ang main building kaya ayun na punta sa my harap ng library at sinira ung park at tinanggal ung statue ng nine martyrs!!! kaya ngayon madaming naghahanap kung asan na ung nine martyrs???

well, most of those plan is being build or done na like the beato building but they didn't make it to 10 storey, only 8 storey kase pag 10 mas mataas na daw sa main building yun eh di daw pwede yun, then ung sa hospital ginagawa na ngayon ung side nya which serves as a cancer institute... yun naman underground parking, di siguro na gagawin kase my multi level parking na...

yun ang nakakatakot sa USt na wawala na ung mga dapat i conserve... tinanggal pa ung nine martyrs... :)

[ishtefh_03]

Thanks again Juan for bringing up the question.

For those who would like to report any heritage sites within the Philippine archipelago that are "endangered," you may post pictures/captions on this thread and I will send the link via e-mail to HCS and other government agencies responsible for protecting our heritage sites. I will also take the time for make a follow-up call if needed and coordinate with the HCS secretariat.

Articles/ photos/ weblinks related to heritage conservation can also be posted on this thread.

For those who would like to report a heritage site in danger but would like to remain anonymous, you may send me a private message (via SSC) or through my e-mail address at jeffreypyap@yahoo.com.

so, if ever i'll post or report any site, they will do something about it???

[pau_p1]

HAA!!!!.. they removed the 9 martyrs!!!... dun pala yun... that structure would really block the Library's view... nyak.... all the while I thought they'd build that on Coop...so the UST Health building is being renovated now...

and about the underground parking... back in 1999, the multivel parking already existed... they just added one level now right... well.. they may still not proceed with it because of the possibility of floods..

[ishtefh_03]

HAA!!!!.. they removed the 9 martyrs!!!... dun pala yun... that structure would really block the Library's view... nyak.... all the while I thought they'd build that on Coop...so the UST Health building is being renovated now...

and about the underground parking... back in 1999, the multivel parking already existed... they just added one level now right... well.. they may still not proceed with it because of the possibility of floods..

yep, dun tinayo ang it blocks the library, 5 storey sya eh so takpan rin ang lib.. actually hindi ung ust health building, mismong front right side ng hospital ang ginagawa if your facing in front of the hospital...

then ung coop na giniba, gagawin atang open theater na lang...

[Wonderboy]

so, if ever i'll post or report any site, they will do something about it???

Reporting an endangered heritage site is like blowing the whistle. This is just the first step. The thing with gov't agencies is that one should start complaining in order for them to act accordingly. Actually, even if one constantly complains, all efforts sometimes remain futile. But my principle regarding this issue is to beat the odds no matter what. I would prefer to roll up the boulder over and over until I reach the peak rather than stay put and do nothing.

[le Reine]

Do we have law that protects these kind of structures? (Because I don't hear any law that protects heritage structures). And how can we know if a structure is a heritage site/structure? There should be some standards, right? I don't believe that if a building is old then it should be immediately restored. There should be some guidelines.

And I also believe that Filipinos are not keen on preserving their heirtage sites or their history because they don't find it practical. Well, most of Filipinos that I know are like this. They have a poor sense of history because they don't want to be reminded of their "tragic" history. What I mean is the tragic experiences that we had during the occupation of different powers. And also the abuses of our own leaders until now. History only reminds them of their pain.

[pau_p1]

I think this depends if the structure is still considered a private property...

[OtAkAw]

Problem is, the person who owns that building might not have any idea on what heritage conservation is!

[manileño]

Reporting an endangered heritage site is like blowing the whistle. This is just the first step. The thing with gov't agencies is that one should start complaining in order for them to act accordingly. Actually, even if one constantly complains, all efforts sometimes remain futile. But my principle regarding this issue is to beat the odds no matter what. I would prefer to roll up the boulder over and over until I reach the peak rather than stay put and do nothing.


Hehe Jepoy astig. You're like Sandra Bullock's character in 'Two Weeks Notice'. If i remember correctly, the first scene in the movie was Sandra lieing in front of this NY building about to be bulldozed. I can imagine you'd do that as well to protect our heritage. :lol: Thanks for the info. I'll prolly subscribe into that yahoogroups thingy first and see what its all about. :okay:

[Wonderboy]

Juan, thanks for your comment. It's nice to know that one of my friends here in SSC appreciates my efforts :)

I'm just a little 'under the weather' lately. A lot of people are expecting too much from me wherein fact they should help me out preserve our heritage instead. They thought that I only limit my concern to the color of the building and saving the Rolls Royce. They didn't know that it was much deeper than the facade and the vintage car; it was about preservation of our past.

[lewdsaint]

The Avanceña House


http://www.thenewstoday.info/2006/03/08/avancena1.jpg

The Avancena House (now known as Camina Balay nga Bato ) stands in all simple modesty at # 20 Osmeña St., Arevalo, Iloilo City.

The house, built around 1860s, was originally owned by Don Fernando Avanceña, uncle of former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Ramon Avaceña. Records show that this house played a major role in the history of Iloilo as it served as general headquarters of the Filipino revolutionaries against the Spanish government and American government.

http://www.thenewstoday.info/2006/03/08/avancena8.jpg

The balay nga bato is characterized by its Geometric style that stands out mainly due to its simplicity of form and understated elegance. As the house ages, its original colors have become faded but the feeling of warmth remains even as its capiz windows soften the otherwise hardy and reserved brick and rubble wall of the first floor and piedra china slabs that cover the first floor.

http://www.thenewstoday.info/2006/03/08/avancena6.jpg

Today, the Avanceña House is known as Camiña Balay na Bato and serves a dual purpose.: it houses the Mother Theresa North Learning Center on the ground floor and serves as residence of the Camiña family.

(Article taken from: The News Today)
Link:http://www.thenewstoday.info/2006/03/08/the.avancena.house.html

One of the many houses which was given citation by the Iloilo City Heritage Conservation Council (ICCHC) for preserving its historical significance of its architecture and also for observing the ICCHC guidelines in conservation and preservation.

[overtureph]

Art forgery rampant

First posted 02:11am (Mla time) Mar 04, 2006
Inquirer



Editor's Note: Published on Page A16 of the March 4, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

PLEASE help the art community. Forgery of paintings is once again rampant.

Recently, right in the University of Santo Tomas' Art School Gallery, fake Ang Kiukok drawings were exhibited. Why do I say “fake”? Because I have the originals of those Kiukok drawings.

I saw several fake Malangs brought to my studio on West Avenue for authentication. With the help of the Inquirer, we can stop or minimize the forgery of artworks. Calling all art collectors, government officials, gallery owners, etc.



MALANG



Copyright 2006 Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Read more stories on this topic as well as view related video clips and sites.

[weirdo]

tsk tsk. pati ba naman artworks pinipirata.

walang nagsabi kung asaan ang 9 martyrs ng uste? sayang talaga dahil maganda sa dapitan ang library nio at ung statues. maganda rin naman ata yung bagong structure. hindi ko pa nakikita.

[lewdsaint]

The newly restored Marquez Lim mansion at 11 Mapa Street, Iloilo City (beside Sta. Maria Church)

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e248/lewdsaint/cosetengmansion3.jpg

The Marquez Lim mansion was inherited by former Senator Nikki Coseteng from her mother Alicia Guanco Marquez Lim. She is the fifth generation of Marquez Lim to have inherited the house.

Coseteng earlier told media that the house restoration was made by Marcelo Alonzo, a Manila-based interior designer. The old glass blocks, tiles and all portions of the house which reflects its antiquity are being restored. Even the old faucets were rechromed. The house was also repainted with olive green to look livelier. Before it looks like a white house.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e248/lewdsaint/cosetengmansion2.jpg

Coseteng said she wants to share the house with everyone as part of Iloilo's rich heritage. She said the Marquez Lim ancestral house has a lot of stories to tell.

She said the house was built in the mid 30s by her great grandfather Pedro Marquez Lim and great grandmother Concordia. It used to be a wooden house. It was destroyed during the Japanese regime and was rebuilt after the war.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e248/lewdsaint/cosetengmansion1.jpg

The heiress said she wants to restore the house and wants to see the house stand as close as possible to the grand old days. The house served as venue for her parents' wedding reception after they made their marital vows at the San Jose Parish Church.


From : The News Today Iloilo

[lewdsaint]

A grand old house in Iloilo

MANILA, September 19, 2004 (STAR) By Julie Cabatit-Alegre

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e248/lewdsaint/nellly.jpg

What is so fascinating about an old house? Its architecture, its history? The story of the people who once lived in it? In the old district of Jaro in Iloilo stands a 200-year-old house where the wife of former vice-president Fernando Lopez Sr., Maria "Mariquit" Javellana-Lopez, once lived. The house was built by her banker grandfather Ramon Javellana, and it served both as a residence as well as a bank. Robert Lopez Puckett, a great-great-grandson who is now the owner of the house, removed a plank of the molave floor in the master bedroom and showed us where the bank’s money used to be kept. In 1910, a vault was installed there and it still exists today Puckett started the restoration of his ancestral house in 1993. The wall finish on the ground floor was carefully chipped off to reveal the original red bricks underneath.

Continue...
http://www.newsflash.org/2004/02/tl/tl012445.htm

[Animo]

http://news.inq7.net/lifestyle/index.php?index=2&story_id=62349
By Augusto Villalon

THE START OF THE YEAR IS the time to take stock of the heritage situation, to see where our heritage journey has reached, and to see whether it is arriving at its destination.

Not many thought of heritage conservation in the far-off 1980s when people believed that cultural heritage shackled us to a dark past. Old architecture held neighborhoods and towns from progress, they believed.

Progress demanded replacing the old with the new, building anew over the debris of the old. The cycle of destruction took away many outdated cultural practices that were rapidly abandoned and replaced with the new.

Progress and embracing new ideas are essential to the growth of a society. However, respecting the past is vital in keeping the thread of national continuity alive no matter the march of modernization.

There has been a change of attitudes since then. Conservation issues, the Jai Alai and Arroceros Forest Park demolitions, have become rallying points, making more people aware of their heritage. Now in many agendas is the preservation and revival of Philippine culture-from architecture to festivals, dances, literature, and so much more.

Student correspondence

Letters received recently from students at the University of Santo Tomas prove that the youth is moving into the front lines of conservation.

Mary Shella Senga comments on the revival of the traditional Misa de Gallo procession in the Parian of Cebu that ushered in the city's Christmas season last month.

"The Parian of Cebu is the symbol of change or modernization, but at the same time, (of) saving the culture and traditions that were once experienced by many... Kaguikan sa Parian shows that Cebuanos will always be proud of their heritage and they would always keep in their hearts and minds what they had before (while) coping with the 21st century."

Quennie Chiu says that since she has become aware of conservation, she has "learned more about our culture and (the) heritage of our country."

Jomar Bautista writes that "your column opened our eyes to one of the vital reasons why we (students) should continue to strive to be architects: to reestablish and revive structures that pay homage to Philippine culture and the arts. You also made us see places we failed to recognize as part of our heritage, allowing us to think that these places are part of our culture... "

Jansen Alias writes, "You have reminded me of some of the things that we sometimes are forgetting to consider in architecture, such as environment and heritage, which directly affect us... neglecting them could be detrimental (to) designing an efficient building that would hinder the growth and lives of people in it."

He continues, "Our country is facing different types of challenges today in different fields, including architecture. Really, there is much to be done in order to make more Filipinos realize the unique pride of place in different regions of the archipelago. I believe that as Filipinos, each of us have our own duty to serve our nation that is rich in heritage and treasures. You have featured how each province boasts of a natural or architectural wonder, which is great and really something to be proud of.

"Just as you wrote in some of your articles (Carcar, Cebu), I found out that nothing is impossible if only all of us, i.e. government, citizens, church, NGOs, etc., would get our act together toward one common goal."

Everyone's duty

From Johnus Mirazol come these observations, "I have become an enthusiast of architectural conservation and preservation. I think it is good that even though we are in a period of constructing smart, grand and high-rise structures, we still give importance to the glorious past and history that we have."

Mirazol continues: "Buildings and historic places are non-living entities, but these are mirrors expressing a rich culture and history... but (they) will definitely stand in time, even for centuries, and these witnesses will tell us of the affluent culture and patrimony that was handed to us by our forefathers."

"I hope that there will come a time that architectural heritage conservation and preservation will be the duty (not only) of the few, but of all. It's not yet too late to start rebuilding what we have lost, for that is the only way that we would be able to start the foundation of our future."

Another UST Architecture student, Julius Marzan, writes that articles published on this column provide readers the "information on what's going on in different places in and out of the country," the "historical significance" of structures, and the "need for (their) conservation."

"I am also glad that the cultural importance is pointed out in your articles, which hopefully would boost the enthusiasm of Filipinos (so that they could) improve and beautify the wealth of our culture, especially in places which we can be proud of."

Marzan expresses the hope to develop the "heart for our nation and the motivation in conserving and preserving important structures and places which signify the past; (this would) help shape a better future for the Filipinos."

As the student letters show, we have come quite a way since the 1980s in the quest to preserve our heritage. With the growing involvement of the youth, rediscovering and protecting our heritage will become a national priority sooner than we expect.

E-mail the author at afv@hotmail.com

[overtureph]

Was this thread moved?

[Wonderboy]

http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/3298/nm26dt.jpg

http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/8094/nm18kl.jpg
I'm just wondering what's the purpose of that thing suspended near the window? It's been there for a couple of months already.

[Hawayano]

@Wonderboy (more like Batang Maynila): thanks for posting the latest pics of the backside of the old Legislative Bldg. now Natl. Museum. Regarding your question, are they doing some renovation/gutting of that room in the upper floor? It looks a lot like a trash chute...I hope it's not some clandestine scheme to smuggle out some of the collection (would the crooks be that obvious?)

[OtAkAw]

Well, at least there are still structures in Manila that can be considered as "acceptable tourist destinations".

[Askal82]

"acceptable tourist destinations" - What a shame.

[Wonderboy]

@Wonderboy (more like Batang Maynila): thanks for posting the latest pics of the backside of the old Legislative Bldg. now Natl. Museum. Regarding your question, are they doing some renovation/gutting of that room in the upper floor? It looks a lot like a trash chute...I hope it's not some clandestine scheme to smuggle out some of the collection (would the crooks be that obvious?)

He he...I certainly hope so. :)

[Wonderboy]

http://www.mymanila.net/gallery/001_04202004.jpg

Below is a text message I received from my friend based in Ilocos:

FYI: the reverend priest of Paoay started plastering the interior walls of the church with cement! Hello NCCA, NHI, UNESCO, your credibility is down the drain!

[OtAkAw]

"acceptable tourist destinations" - What a shame.
Well, they are!

[JAMAICUS]

How is the interior of the NAtional Museum?

[Wonderboy]

http://www2.hawaii.edu/~gaspar/paoay9.jpg

Below is a text message I received from my friend based in Ilocos:

FYI: the reverend priest of Paoay started plastering the interior walls of the church with cement! Hello NCCA, NHI, UNESCO, your credibility is down the drain!

I called NCCA today and they said that they will be going to Ilocos tomorrow to personally talk to the parish priest who spearheaded the plastering of cement on the interiors of Paoay church.

Actually, I called Paoay Church before I called NCCA, unfortunately, Fr. Victor Calma was not available to take my call but I was able to talk to one of the caretakers and she said that the 'cementing' started last January 24.

I heard that Fr. Calma is hardheaded and wouldn't cooperate with the gov't, UNESCO, and NCCA.

So is anyone here from Paoay? Perhaps a local/ Ilocano with cultural sensitivity can help convince Fr. Calma to protect Paoay Church. NCCA added that the priest had some other 'projects' that would be detrimental to the preservation of the church.

Below are the contact information for reference:

Paoay Church: (077)7932030
City of Paoay: (077) 6140191
NCCA: (02) 5272192

[ishtefh_03]

i posted this pic to other threads already, but just like what kuya jeff told about paoay church being plastered... i think it's this one, i remember our tour guide told us that the roof of this is replaced by a GI roof na daw...

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e345/ishtefh_03/quezon%20trip/DSC00079.jpg

[Animo]

INTRAMUROS OF MEMORY: Laya & Gatbonton, Ministry of Human Settlements, Intramuros Administration, Manila 1983

Photo-documentation of the walled city of Intramuros. It showcases the various aspects of the city from the fortifications, showing the various puertas or gateways to the ravelins and bulwarks and Fort Santiago, Manila's Citadel along the Pasig River. It also highlights the numerous churches that graced Intramuros which made the city the area with most churches within a walled community. The churches shown are Iglesia de Imaculada Concepcion or Manila Cathedral, Iglesia de San Agustin, Iglesia de San Ignacio, Iglesia de San Jose, Iglesia de Lourdes, Iglesia de San Nicolas Recoletos, Iglesia de Santo Domingo, Iglesia de San Francisco and Iglesia Minor de Orden Tercera. All except for Manila Cathedral and San Agustin were destroyed during the liberation of Manila which is also featured in this book. Other structures of note presented in this book are schools and convents that were numerous during its heyday such as Ateneo Municipal, Colegio de Santo Tomas, Colegio de San Juan de Letran, Beaterio de Santa Catalina, Colegio de Santa Rosa, Colegio de Santa Isabel, Beaterio de la Compania, and the Convento de Santa Clara. Government agencies were also photographed such as the Ayuntamiento, Intendencia, Aduana, and others.

It is a noteworthy book for architectural historians who are fascinated by what the city of Manila looked like prior to the second world war.

ANGELS IN STONE: AGUSTINIAN CHURCHES IN THE PHILIPPINES: Pedro G. Gallende O.S.A. San Agustin Museum, Manila

Photo documentation as well as historical survey of the numerous churches which the Agustinian Order erected throughout its long illustrious history in the country. The Agustinian Order, the oldest order to have established missions in the country was also blessed with evangelizing the most wealthy and secure places in the archipelago, which is reflected in the wealth of their architectural heritage. The photos here are in full color with external and internal shots of selected churches. It traces the evolution of the structures from when the town or pueblo was established as well as the consequent erection of the church, to the present growth of the community. It also looks into the construction of the churches, discussing such aspects as to materials used, cost, design aspects and motifs as well as construction principles employed, all analyzed in a layman's point of view. Noted structures analyzed in this book are the San Agustin Church and Convent, the churches of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Pampanga, Bulacan, Cebu, Panay Island, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, and Abra.

It is an interesting coffee table book for lovers of ecclesiastical architecture particularly Agustinian Architecture in the Philippines.

FORTRESS OF EMPIRE: SPANISH COLONIAL FORTIFICATIONS OF THE PHILIPPINES 1565-1898: Rene B. Javellana S.J.: Bookmark

A pictorial essay on the Spanish colonial fortifications found all over the islands. The author discusses the role which the Spanish fortifications played in the colonization of the archipelago. The book highlights the beginning of fortifications in the country with examples found in the Batanes Islands, to early indigenous fortifications. It is also a historical look of colonial fortifications, its strategy and construction. The development of colonial fortification in the country beginning with Fort San Pedro in Cebu was identified, along with Intramuros walls and Fort Santiago, Fuerza San Felipe in Cavite was also highlighted as well as numerous other fortifications in the country. Smaller bastions such as the defensive moro watch towers which dot coastal communities was also mentioned as well as the Church fortresses such as the Iglesia y fuerza de Cuyo, Iglesia y Fuerza de Culion, Iglesia y Fuerza de Capul and others.

The book traces the development of military architecture in the country highlighting not only its defensive purpose but its religious and social uses as well.

WOOD AND STONE: FOR GODS GREATER GLORY: JESUIT ART AND ARCHITECTURE IN THE PHILIPPINES: Rene B. Javellana S.J.: Ateneo de Manila University Press

Book on the origin and development of ecclesiastical art and architecture of the Jesuit Order in the Philippines. It traces the legacy of Spanish Jesuit contribution from the establishment of the pueblo to the division of the land into reducciones as well as the mission of the Jesuits with ad majorem dei gloriam as their motto for conversion.

The book looks into the Jesuit builders themselves, the architects, builders, artisans and artists who contributed their skills into the construction of these monuments of faith. Highlight of this book is the discussion on the construction of the Iglesia de San Ignacio in Intramuros. In latter chapters, the various missions established by the Jesuit order was identified, discussing its architecture, its interior decoration (reredos and retablos). Some notable discussions and photographs presented are those of the churches of Antipolo, Siland, Boac, Sta. Cruz as well as that of San Ignacio.

The book is significant in its telling of how missions such as that of the Jesuit order established themselves in the country and provides a look into the mission-building of a community and the outcome and history of this community endeavor.

PHILIPPINE ARCHITECTURE DURING THE PRE-SPANISH AND SPANISH PERIODS: Norma Ipac-Alarcon, U.S.T. Press

Book on the development of architecture in the country from the pre-Spanish period to the Spanish era. It traces the development of architecture through the various factors involved in shaping architecture. From climate, topography, geography and geology, culture, religion, and history. It looks at samples of ethnic architecture, from the traditional bahay kubo to the more tribal examples of the hinterlands. All examples are illustrated. During the Spanish regime, focus was concentrated on ecclesiastical architecture and the numerous churches erected during this period by the five religious orders present in the country. The book reviews historical architecture which resulted in the establishment of renaissance architecture in the country. The book also presents an analysis of numerous churches in the country and discussed the Law of the Indies as well.

The book, the first in a series of 2 books, discusses in detail the evolutionary process of developing architecture in a country. The second book will cover the evolution of architecture in the country during the American and the contemporary period is still to be published.

SIMBAHAN: CHURCH ART IN COLONIAL PHILIPPINES 1565 - 1898: Regalado Trota-Jose, Ayala Museum 1991

History of church architecture in the Philippines and how such architecture played an important role in the evangelization of the nation. The book identifies the religious orders which shaped the religious nature of the country and traces the missions established by these religious orders. Other parts of the book discusses the methods of construction of all parts of the building. The different parts and uses of the church complex are also mentioned. Aside from architecture, the author discusses the interior aspects and significance of church imagery in shaping the religious minds of the people. Period photographs of various churches, exterior and interior are presented to give the reader an idea of how Philippine churches looked like prior to destruction due to wars and natural calamity or simply wrong renovation ideas.

The book is noteworthy for discussing religious architecture in detail without stepping into religious or missionastic ideas for building such churches.

HERITAGE: PHILIPPINE ARCHITECTURE; THE ILOCOS REGION: AN ARCHITECTURAL TRAVEL GUIDE: Manuel L.C. Noche, et.al. United Architects of the Philippines, Center for Philippine Architecture

Book on the significant architectural structures in the Ilocos Regions, comprising the provinces of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union and Pangasinan. The book identifies historical architecture such as ancestral houses, churches and convents, lighthouses, moro watch towers, government buildings and other buildings deemed historical due to age. It also discusses the significant towns in the Ilocos region by tracing the history of their names. Drawings and maps of structures are included.

DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURE: 1993 Santa Barbara Publishing Corp.

Monthly publication focusing on the arts and architecture. Various articles showcase the best in Philippine arts with architecture highlighted in each issue. Some features of the magazine deal with present-day art, architecture and interior design. Historic design are presented well to remind the reader of the importance of historical art and architecture.

GREAT CHURCHES OF THE PHILIPPINES: Pedro Gallende O.S.A. & Rene Javellana S.J.

Two of the country's foremost writers on church architecture, Gallende and Javellana, identifies the most artistically significant churches in the country. Photo essays on the various churches gives the reader an opportunity to see the beauty of the various churches found around the country. The book provides a very good preview of churches including a prelude to Gallende's, Angel in Stone and Javellana`s Wood and Stone.

The book is an important collection for architects and art lovers of church architecture.

[bustero]

I think it's interesting how society will have to reconcile the tension between saving heritage sites and restoring them as original designs, and it being used by actual locals who want a practical usable site.

[overtureph]

sorry double posting

[overtureph]

The House The Filipino Built
By Ann Corvera
The Philippine Star 03/12/2006

As buildings go, 50 years is not a long time. But the University of the Philippines’ College of Architecture (UPCA) marks its 50th year this month with an eye not only on the future, but also on the past,breaking new ground in building concepts and approaches at the same time acknowledging the value of our architectural history and traditions.

UP College of Architecture dean Prosperidad "Hedy" Luis fondly refers to the old houses in Sariaya and Candelaria in Quezon province, noting how the homes of the Filipino upper class evolved into stone houses or bahay na bato from the traditional grass hut or bahay kubo.

"It was reflective of the life of leisure during those days," says Luis. The bahay na bato was made of materials more durable than those of the nipa huts, but maintained the latter’s elevated style and open ventilation. Luis notes that architecture is the "ultimate expression" of the current state of life and living.

Unfortunately, most of those houses–as well as many others all over the country–have been left to caretakers or totally abandoned by their owners, who find the task of maintaining these old family homes expensive, tedious and impractical.

Fortunately, there are moves to preserve these old structures. A preservation and conservation mission brought Luis to these two towns in Quezon recently. Abandoned as these structures were, concerned entities have stepped in to carry out what others weren’t convinced should be done: preserve the heritage.

It is easy to make up our minds that Philippine architecture barely exists, what with the mixture of influences from centuries of foreign rule, particularly the Spaniards then the Americans. However, Luis notes that it is precisely from these influences that Philippine architecture was born.

"We are the product of so many cultures merged together, but that doesn’t make us less Filipino," Luis tells Starweek in an interview ahead of the college’s 50th anniversary.

How the growth of Philippine architecture was shaped past the colonial stages into modern contemporary period and beyond could very well be answered not only by acceptance of Filipino heritage, but more notably by recognizing our own talent and through "real criticism" that will allow budding architects to forge ahead with the changing times.

"In the other arts, there is criticism like in sculpture and music, but there is no real criticism on architecture because it is tied up with being a profession," observes Rene Luis Mata, a professor at UPCA.

Former dean Gero-nimo Manahan, a Likha and Gold Medal awardee of the United Architects of the Philippines last year, says foreign architectural influences in the past, including those from neighboring countries like China and India a a result of commerce and trade, brought about "nuances unique to the Philippines". And these nuances have, in fact, become part of our architectural traditions.

Space, for instance, is a distinct feature of Philippine architecture.

"Look at the kitchen in Filipino homes," points out Manahan. "It is in our culture to have two kitchens–the dirty kitchen and the one inside which sometimes is also a dining area." Or the living room where Filipinos receive guests and "at the same time we dine there", he adds.

In a bigger context, Manahan cites the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), a masterpiece of the late national artist Leandro Locsin, as one of the structures that best describe Philippine architecture.

"That’s his work and he expresses his architecture through culture," says Manahan of Locsin, who was also responsible for other distinctly Filipino cultural landmarks like the Folk Arts Theater and the Philippine International Convention Center.

The government-run National Commission for Culture and the Arts quotes Locsin on the meaning of true Philippine architecture: It is "the product of two great streams of culture, the oriental and the occidental... to produce a new object of profound harmony".

For Mata, who teaches under UPCA’s adopted methodology of teaching, research and extension, the problem with the perspective that the country doesn’t have its own architecture because of colonial influences is the lack of acceptance of our unique heritage.

"We don’t accept it as our own. But really, it is a continuous development. We adapt (architecture) to our own needs," he says.

Notwithstanding the factor of influence, one need not look far to find excellent examples of Philippine architecture.

Jillian Resurreccion, a 24-year-old architect, finds the building of San Miguel Corporation in Pasig City, a creation of Bobby Mañosa, as a reflection of Filipino culture, with the Banaue rice terraces as the inspiration behind the prominent Filipino architect’s work.

Many other architects, some less recognized, have masterpieces all over Manila that are not widely appreciated as architectural treasures; examples include Juan Arellano’s Manila General Post Office at Plaza Lawton and the old Legislative Building, to name but two.

The lack of understanding of our architectural history, Mata believes, leads to "a question of identity."

"A lot of people say that we don’t have Philippine architecture, that we only copy it; but they forget that historically, it happens to other countries. You go through a process. You adapt, you reject but if we do not understand the background, we will not understand it ourselves," says Mata.

This is where UPCA’s teaching methodology and its studio-laboratory come in.

Human and physical resources are UPCA’s greatest assets. UP requires faculty members to have finished at least a master’s degree. UPCA, which the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) identified as a center of excellence in 1999, adopts a methodology that integrates teaching, research and extension.

A center of excellence is a higher education unit with a strong undergraduate program, research and extension capability and a good graduate program. UPCA assessed and improved its undergraduate curricula in 2002 based on guiding principles that would make studies relevant to the times. For one, the history, theory and criticism series merge history and theory based on the belief that the discussion of the evolution of architectural theories cannot be detached from the events in history which provide the backdrop against which thoughts, values and principles develop.

"Our lab is a history, theory and criticism laboratory where we try to combine the study of architectural history, theory and criticism. In so doing we question and challenge the existing norms and try to move ahead," Mata explains. "So we’re trying to get to the cutting-edge zone here–architecture as projected to what’s happening now. The good and the bad. Together with that, of course, is the study of the history of architecture–and related to that is the study of Philippine architecture, and corollary to that is conservation."

Another critical facet of UPCA studies is the conservation and restoration of historical heritage structures in the Philippines.

"In doing so, we study the technology of our heritage," notes Mata, who took up historical restoration studies in Spain and spent 13 years with the Intramuros Administration. Mata expresses disappointment at how the government has "neglected conservation in favor of tourism."

For Dean Manahan, the problem is the marketing factor. He laments that clients don’t recognize the value of Filipino architects. "They make use of architects as a commodity for marketing which should not be the case. That is the dilemma of the profession today."

Thus, Manahan stresses the importance of the government updating its regulations especially for the recognition of professional architects which, he notes, is being done by UPCA’s alumni association.

While UPCA cooperates to give assistance to other schools in terms of faculty and curricular development, Deans Manahan and Luis hope there will be more centers of excellence in the country so that many other Filipino students may enjoy comprehensiveness in their studies as well as experience and gain insights into reality outside the school walls.

"When research is integrated, the curiosity of students is heightened to look for answers. We offer students actual projects, like they work with the NGOs of Sariaya in preservation and conservation of structures there. They work with actual clients so it’s not only hypothetical," explains Luis.

UPCA counts among its roster of alumni some of the most distinguished names in Philippine architecture. many head prominent firms, and–perhaps more importantly–many are involved in efforts to articulate and define Philippine architecture and to preserve, conserve and highlight traditional Philippine structures.

Just like buildings that prove their worth through time, the UPCA will likewise adapt itself to the changing demands and continue to build not just structures, but the nation as well.

[ishtefh_03]

Space, for instance, is a distinct feature of Philippine architecture.

"Look at the kitchen in Filipino homes," points out Manahan. "It is in our culture to have two kitchens–the dirty kitchen and the one inside which sometimes is also a dining area." Or the living room where Filipinos receive guests and "at the same time we dine there", he adds.

when it comes to space, filipinos are not into open spaces as much as possible lahat ng area nilalagyan ng kung ano ano...

and true that it is in our culture two have two kitchens, philippines lng ang my dirty kitchen...

[Alitaptap]

Foundation seeks to preserve Philippines' colonial lighthouses
By Channel NewsAsia's Philippines Bureau Chief Twink Macaraig

MANILA : Twenty-four colonial lighthouses in the Philippines - each built more than 100 years ago - are in danger of destruction. This is because the Philippine Coast Guard, which looks after these historical naval sites, simply cannot afford to maintain them.

Mr Nanding de Mesa has been lighthouse keeper for the Faro de Punta Malabrigo in Batangas, some 125 kilometres south of Manila, for over 30 years. It was a job his father and his grandfather also held, since it was built 114 years ago. Nanding remembers that he used to churn the diesel engines everyday to power up the lighthouse, as soon as darkness hit.

But for a decade now, solar energy has taken care of that chore, and lights go on automatically at 6pm. For the last three years though, the main lights have been on the blink and a small back-up works in its place.

Mr Fernando de Mesa, Lighthouse keeper, says: "I just keep making requests but the replacement never comes. I understand that part is expensive and needs to be ordered from Japan."

The situation reflects the dismal state of Philippine lighthouses. The Philippine Coast Guard, which supports their operations, barely has the budget to keep the lights going, let alone carry out the needed maintenance work on these historical structures.

There are more than 20 other lighthouses from the Spanish colonial period still standing in the Philippines. They still perform their vital functions but nowhere near the limits of their usefulness.

This is where the Adopt-A-Lighthouse Foundation comes in. The group is dedicated to raising the needed funds to preserve these monuments to the country's grand maritime past.

Ms Ross Harper, Founder of Adopt-A-Lighthouse Foundation, says: "They have deteriorated through the years. Aside from that, vandals have come and carted away antique doors and planters. We just thought it was a waste to have all these historical buildings lost forever."

The Foundation wants to capitalise on the lighthouses' architecture and locale. It is working out guidelines, along with the Coast Guard and the National Historical Institute, that will allow private investors to turn the lighthouses into commercial enterprises, provided that proper restoration principles are followed.

Ms Harper says: "There are parameters. So we have to make sure that everybody is conscious and responsible." She recognises that it requires commitment to invest in crumbling old buildings in remote locations. But she is confident that enough businessmen will be taken by the romance that adopting a lighthouse represents, as well as the chance to take part in navigating the course of the country's history. - CNA/de

[Alitaptap]

Some old Philippine lighthouses from the web.

Patar Lighthouse - ? Bolinao,Pangasinan
http://i1.trekearth.com/photos/11248/litehaus_in_b.jpg

Corregidor Lighthouse
http://www.clickthecity.com/img2/cityshots/20050202.jpg

Ilocos Norte Lighthouse
http://k43.pbase.com/u41/cmanaginged/upload/33274425.DSC02921.JPG

From the MotorcyclePhilippines website - somewhere in luzon
http://motorcyclephilippines.com/simonsrun/lighthouse.jpg

[Animo]

When the U.S. captured the Philippines from Spain in 1898, the Americans inherited close to 60 lighthouses and minor lights built by the Spanish colonial authorities. Many of the major Spanish lighthouses survive; in fact, many of them are still in service. Others have gone to ruin in the tropical climate of the islands.

This report is based on several sources, including:

Faros Españoles de Ultramar. This is the table of contents of a book published in Spain, listing lighthouses built in the Spanish colonies of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. For the Philippines it listed 27 major light stations, 17 luces locales (local lights), and 14 additional lighthouses built on the more remote islets of the archipleago, a total of 58.

The 27 Major Lighthouses (in the order listed by Faros Españoles de Ultramar) (http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/lighthouse/phl-esp.htm)

The Philippines Lighthouses (http://www.sflu.com/lighthouses/). This is a web site posted by Edmund Tan So, who is trying to launch a lighthouse preservation society in teh Philippines. The site includes technical descriptions of many of the major Spanish lighthouses contributed by Manuel L. Noche, who also visited the sites to assess their current condition.
Light Lists listing Philippine lights in 1865, 1879, 1895, 1904, and 1920. I am much indebted to Michel Forand for providing this data.

[Animo]

The Report of the Philippine Commission, Volume VII., Washington 1903 (published 1904), listed 57 light houses in the Philippines: Luzon (24), Mindoro (3), Marinduque (1), Masbate (2), Capul (1), San Bernardino (1), Samar (2), Cananay (1), Leyte (1), Jintolo Island (1), Manigonigo Island (1), Gigantes (1), Panay (3), Guimaras Island (1), Capitancillo Island (1), Cebu (5), Mactan (1), Busuanga Island (1), Calamian (1), Cuyos Island (1), Mindanao (2), Jolo (1), Balabac Island (1).

View old photo here: http://www.univie.ac.at/voelkerkunde/apsis/aufi/pop/light.htm

---

The Bagacay Point Lighthouse in the Philippines will soon be restored under a new program called “Adopt a Lighthouse” instituted by the by the Philippine Coast Guard

Photo and article here: http://www.lhdigest.com/Digest/StoryPage.cfm?StoryKey=2170

---

In 1998 there was an exhibition at the Center for Historic Studies of Public Works and Town Planning, a sub-agency of the Centro de Estudios y Experimentación de Obras Públicas (CEDEX), in Madrid Spain. The exhibition, called "Manila 1571-1898, The West in East", featured 25 panels describing the Spanish influence on its colony in Asia using maps, drawings and photos from that period. Besides the actual exhibition, a virtual exhibition was available on the CEDEX website in Spanish and English. Both exhibitions have since ended.

The River and the Sea: Bridges, Ports and Lighthouses

Link: http://www.aenet.org/manila-expo/page20.htm

[overtureph]

Pride of Place : Iloilo, heritage champion

First posted 11:58pm (Mla time) Mar 19, 2006
By Augusto Villalon
Inquirer



Editor's Note: Published on page C1 of the March 20, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

ILOILO EVOKES MANY PLEASANT images, each one as soothing as its melodious language whose lilt perfectly sums up the local lifestyle and culture: laid-back Southern gentility graciously lived in a city on the banks of a river whose languorous flow sets the peaceful tone of the residents' pulse.
There is no other city in the Philippines with an image as distinct as Iloilo.

Once the center of the Visayan sugar industry, the city retains vestiges of that era. Muelle Loney, the city dock, commemorates Nicholas Loney, the Englishman who industrialized the sugar industry in the 19th century, exported sugar globally from Iloilo, and brought prosperity to the province.

There was another side to the entrepreneurial Loney who flooded the Iloilo market with cheap, machine-woven textiles imported from England, a move killing the flourishing Ilonggo hand-loom industry which was the source of the best hand-woven fabric in the Philippines.

Nevertheless, the face Iloilo presents
today is still sugar-sweet. Elegant arcaded colonnades dating back to the Commonwealth era still shade city-center sidewalks, an urban amenity now vanished from other Philippine city centers in the name of development.

The Commonwealth-era buildings of Iloilo face extinction. The new malls have taken away retail activity from the old city center. There are plans to reuse the old downtown buildings to produce a heritage-destination setting that attracts the public and tourists away from the malls, a plan seen to revive the old city center and return luster to the city's tarnished pride of place.

Iloilo ilustrados

Descendants of illustrious Iloilo families continue to live in their stately homes that stand sometimes alone, at other times behind rows of commercial developments, on city streets that retain shabby remnants of its former grandeur.

Progress has swept away sidewalks, trees, and the small plazas that once made the city more livable than it is today.

Nevertheless, the city presents a wide range of architecture. Houses range from pre-20th century bahay na bato of the Spanish colonial era.

In Iloilo, the houses take on a Visayan character. They are more open and embellished than their Tagalog relatives. Superb mansions from the American colonial era, built in the 1920s in an eclectic style typical to Iloilo, remain.

Probably one of the best-preserved 1930s Art Deco houses in the country is aptly called Boat House, a reference to its flowing, streamlined lines recalling sleek ocean liners considered the height of modernity during that era, causing that particular variant of the Art Deco style to be called Moderne.

Iloilo unfolds on different levels. Some mansions struggle for existence side by side with unregulated commercial development on city streets. Fast-food stores in malls fail to capture faithful customers who still insist on going to the market, not a restaurant, for an authentic batchoy fix.

Ilonggo culture tempers 21st-century mass media and Internet culture with Visayan tradition, creating an interesting mix of cutting-edge technology and the old.

With its feet firmly planted on tradition is the Panaderia de Molo, an Iloilo icon deserving to be a national treasure. Its trademark striped tins of handmade cookies are prized gifts to any Filipino. Its bakery products are coveted Pinoy comfort food that maintain the old taste and texture no longer found in mass-manufactured products from commercial bakeries.

Established by the Jason sisters, ownership has passed to their Sanson great-granddaughters, the fourth generation of the family to manage the bakery. This generation zealously maintains original family recipes, still kneads and mixes by hand, uses traditional wooden and bamboo implements, and bakes in clay ovens fired by wood especially grown in the family's plantation.

Conservation body

Bent on preserving heritage, the Iloilo City Cultural Heritage and Conservation Council (ICCHCC) actively takes a hand in guiding the city to attaining a balance between tradition and the 21st century.

Enjoying support from City Mayor Jerry Tre¤as, who understands that the identity of Iloilo lies in its culture, well-connected ICCHCC board members are Iloilo movers involved in city government, civic organizations, mass media, business, professional and academic circles.

The ICCHCC is among the few organizations in the Philippines that have greatly increased heritage awareness. The organization successfully held a heritage awards program in 2005 that awarded the winners of a student essay competition and presented awards recognizing the best conservation and adaptive reuse of heritage architecture in the city.

Among its awardees were ancestral homes reused as schools, religious convents or restaurants, proof that heritage structures can be used for contemporary needs.

In May, the ICCHCC goes into full gear. Iloilo hosts the national culminating activity for Philippine Heritage Month on May 30-31 this year.

For the entire month of May the tireless

ICCHCC presents a series of activities celebrating heritage. A Flores de Mayo, exhibits of traditional culture, musical performances, lectures, and dance performances will be held in different venues all over the city.

The closing ceremonies in Iloilo City will be the highlight of the month-long celebration and focus on Panay cultural heritage, specifically Iloilo. During the two days, activities and events will include walking tours, park concerts, cultural performances, religious rites, and ceremonial receptions.

A good place to start an Iloilo visit would be at Museo Iloilo, whose exhibits introduce what the city is all about and whose director, Zaffy Ledesma, has an inside track on local history.

Walk next door from the Museo to the Department of Tourism Office (tel. 033-3375411) for detailed information on all cultural and tourism events sponsored either by the ICCHCC or the DOT which share an office in Iloilo City.

Feedback is welcome at afvillalon@hotmail.com

Copyright 2006 Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[Wonderboy]

http://www.myislandsphilippines.com/data/661/thumbs/Rebel20050730_0036.jpg

Message: 1
Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2006 17:18:32 -0800 (PST)
From: Jeremy Barns <jeremy_barns@yahoo.com>
Subject: Help for Baras Church

Dear all,

Last February 16, I was taking my family, visiting from Australia, on
the drive around Laguna de Bay and the old lakeshore towns of Rizal and
Laguna (very oddly, for its proximity to the city and its first-rate
road with little traffic after Binangonan all the way to Los Banos, this
fantastic heritage and scenic route is still very much unknown), and we
dropped in on the church of San Jose in Baras, Rizal. Built in the
1680s by the Franciscans, it's a favorite of mine for the charm of the
setting, its superior preservation and the authentic ancestral character it
retains. Indeed, it's a veritable showcase.

As it was around lunchtime on a weekday, the main doors were closed
so we snuck in through the convento to find an unlocked side door. We
were busted by a young fellow in a t-shirt who was very friendly and took
us inside, and who turned out to be the parish priest, Fr. Giovanni
Yago. We entered into a long conversation while my parents were taking
photos and rambling around, and, when he realized that I knew a thing or
two about colonial churches, Fr. Yago said that he was initiating a
project to replace the leaking corrugated iron roof, which dates from the
last renovation in the 1960s. This renovation also saw the removal of
the old ceiling and left the original 300 year-old wooden trusswork and
beams exposed. If you know the church, it's a glorious site (though the
more I think about it, the lost ceiling was a misfortune).

Now, Fr. Yago told me he was trying to work out how to do it -
replace the roof - and asked me for advice. The only person he felt he could
talk with was this engineer friend of his who's in charge of
maintenance at one of the plush new condominiums at the Fort. I expressed
surprise that there was no one to help him, and he said he did not know who to
get in touch with, except perhaps this Belgian tourist who passed
through some time ago and who seemed to know quite a lot about old
buildings. So much for institutional support.

I referred him to the NCCA and to HCS, specifically mentioning people
like Arch. Villalon, Ricky Jose, etc. And I made a mental note to write
to you all. On my part, I said that I was neither an architect nor an
engineer, but that it would be a sensitive undertaking where it would be
paramount to retain the trusswork, etc.

Would someone like to help? Here is a young priest, proud of the
heritage of his church building, but presumably on a tight budget and
definitely with only very limited access to the expert advice and knowledge
anyone would need. I would urge those interested to drive over and take
a look, and seek Fr. Yago out to offer help in sympathy with both
heritage considerations and his aims for his parishioners.

The telephone number of the church (from the Dioscese of Antipolo
website) is 6531069. Fr. Yago expects to stay at Baras for only another
year or two before his next transfer... Oh, and he showed me cracks on
both sides of the choirloft where the main facade is tilting away from
the rest of the church - he said it had gone from an inch wide to around
four inches in only the last few years...

Jeremy Barns

[overtureph]

Looking Back : Japanese history on the Internet

First posted 01:58am (Mla time) Mar 22, 2006
By Ambeth Ocampo
Inquirer



Editor's Note: Published on Page A15 of the March 22, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

LAST week, a small gathering of librarians, archivists and cultural workers was convened by Salvacion Arlante, librarian of the University of the Philippines, to meet Ishii Yoneo, director general of the Japan Center for Asian Historical Records (JACAHR). What I presumed to be a social call was actually an introduction to the work they are doing in Japan with regard to historical records and, more precisely, how they are digitizing these records and making them available on the Internet.

What I found astounding is the fact that the Japanese National Archives houses a collection of over 1.1 million books and approximately 550,000 Japanese government documents and publications dating from the Meiji Period (1868-1912) to the present. One wonders how our own National Library and Records Management and Archives Office (RMAO), which passes itself off as the "National Archives," will compare in terms of size. If you want a graphic description of the Japanese collection, if laid end to
end, the bookshelves would run to about 35 kilometers. That's about the same distance from Manila to Bulacan province.

With all the controversy that surrounds Japan's way of remembering its own history, especially its role in Asia during World War II, one would think it would be difficult to access its historical records. Fortunately, the Americans carted off all the records they could find from Japan to Washington where everything was opened, processed and microfilmed. Decades later, the original materials were returned to Japan. These materials now form an important section of the Japan Center for Historical Records that was established under the Japan National Archives.

The same thing was done with the records of our short-lived Philippine Republic. When Emilio Aguinaldo's seat of government in Malolos town fell into American hands in 1899 and he fled to Palanan, Isabela, all the government records were carted away to Washington, where they were sorted out, microfilmed, and eventually returned to Manila in the late 1950s when the US Library of Congress and National Archives needed more shelf space for other materials. They kept the microfilms and returned the originals.

Today all this documentary evidence is preserved in our National Library by Director Prudenciana Cruz. It is reflective of our reinterpretation of history that this collection, formerly called the "Philippine Insurgent Records," has been renamed the "Philippine Revolutionary Papers."

While we should be glad to have the original manuscripts of our heroes in the Philippines, researchers sometimes have difficulty locating items that have been lost, stolen or misfiled over time and so we always resort to the US-made microfilm that comes with a useful index. Maybe when the Philippines has a better economy, we can have a similar center that will make important Philippine documents accessible to the people, both Filipinos and foreigners, on the Internet.

During the meeting, a demonstration of JACAHR online was presented, and it made my heart sink with envy. There was a search engine that could find materials under certain key words. Often an image of the original document came out and could be read, downloaded or printed out free of charge. Naturally, we asked to search under "Laurel" and I was surprised to find a reference to him and a "puppet government" in the Philippines. I asked if this heading or key word was found in the original. I was told that some of the terms were supplied by the Americans, thus reflecting their view or their interpretation of Philippine history.

I have always been wary of the terms "puppet government" and "collaborator" which are used mindlessly in our school textbooks, despite the unsettled debate on whether the "collaboration" with Japan in those dark days was done out of conviction or necessity. As you can see, documents by themselves say something, but the editorializing and interpretation come from the historian.

When we asked to see the records on the "comfort women," we were surprised to find very little material. Dr. Rico Jose, the authority on the Japanese period in our history, said that there was a lot of material available in the archives, but this was not reflected in the JACAHR website. Perhaps we were not asking the correct keywords? For example, the entries important to Filipino historians are listed under the heading "philippine" which is a transliteration of the Japanese word for our country; if you make the "mistake" of entering a search under "Philippines" with an "s", you will probably be told no records exist on this topic.

When I remarked on this, I was told that the search words were determined by archivists, not by historians, and that JACAHR would welcome our suggestions.

I guess no archival system, no matter how well funded and sophisticated, can be perfect but then this is much better than anything we have at the moment. It makes Filipino historians dream of a time when we can access Philippine records on the Net whether these be held in Manila, Washington, Madrid or Tokyo.

The world is indeed becoming a smaller place because of the Internet. We can only hope that more people will use what is available to study the past and gain perspective for the present and the future.

* * *

Comments are welcome at aocampo@ateneo.edu.


Copyright 2006 Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[overtureph]

I've visited Baras church several times and one of the things I've noticed is that it seems it has been spared from a major or some monstrous renovation. It has also a beautiful font where holy water is placed. Lets hope if something is done, it would be conservation and preservation.

[ark]

CHURCHES OF ILOILO
Here are some churches of Iloilo

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e116/gedalanga/sanjoch.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e116/gedalanga/sanjose3.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e116/gedalanga/sanjose2.jpg

SAN JOSE CHURCH, City Proper, Iloilo City

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e116/gedalanga/009_sanjoaquin_church_small.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e116/gedalanga/sanjoaquin.jpg

SAN JOAQIUN CHURCH, San Joaquin, Iloilo. The entablature have bas reliefs sepicting the Battle of Tetuan-the battle between Christians and Muslims.

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e116/gedalanga/moloch.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e116/gedalanga/iloilomolochurchpostcard.jpg

MOLO CHURCH, Molo, Iloilo City. Considered as one of the most beautiful churches in Western Visayas.

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e116/gedalanga/jaroch.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e116/gedalanga/005_jaro_cathedral_small.jpg

JARO METROPOLITAN CATHEDRAL, Jaro, Iloilo City

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e116/gedalanga/006_jaro_belfry_small.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e116/gedalanga/jarobelfry.jpg

JARO BELFRY. The detached belfry of the cathedral. It is located across the cathedral (across the street) in the plaza.

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e116/gedalanga/cabatuan.jpg

CABATUAN CHURCH, Cabatuan, Iloilo

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e116/gedalanga/church7miagao.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e116/gedalanga/012_miagao_bas_small.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e116/gedalanga/011_miagao_church_small.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e116/gedalanga/34_3.jpg

MIAG-AO CHURCH, Miag-ao, Iloilo. The pride of Iloilo. One of the four Philippine churches included in the UNESCO's World Heritage List.

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e116/gedalanga/004_stabarbara_church_small.jpg

SANTA BARBARA CHURCH AND CONVENT, Sta. Barbara, Iloilo. Iloilo's Barasoain Church. This church served as the headquarters of the Ilonggo rebels under Gen. Martin Delgado.

CEMETERIES

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e116/gedalanga/010_sanjoaquin_cemetery.jpg

SAN JOAQUIN CEMETERY

[dancethingy]

WOW!

[lewdsaint]

Some of Iloilo Old Houses and Mansions

Ledesma Mansion
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e248/lewdsaint/94057391_afb8cb4765.jpg

Nelly's Garden
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e248/lewdsaint/nellly.jpg

Avencena Ancestral House
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e248/lewdsaint/avancena1.jpg

Lizares Mansion
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e248/lewdsaint/16_LizaresMansionIloIlo.jpg

Coseteng Mansion
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e248/lewdsaint/cosetengmansion3.jpg

[Animo]

http://static.flickr.com/10/16863149_6f66d8b338.jpg?v=0
Built in 1892, the lighthouse stands on a promontory in Burgos, 45 kilometers north of Laoag City. It still sends out signals to ships passing by the Cape facing the northern portion of the South China Sea. The highest lighthouse in the Philippines.

http://static.flickr.com/9/16863154_642598f262.jpg?v=0
Ligthouse Prism

http://static.flickr.com/11/16863153_a6c542825a.jpg?v=0
Stairwell of the Cape Bojeador Lighthouse

[tigidig14]

MIAG-AO CHURCH for my honest opinion is the best represent catholic church for the whole island of Pnas :D

[Animo]

MIAG-AO CHURCH for my honest opinion is the best represent catholic church for the whole island of Pnas :D

Like any other foreign influences, the architecture of many colonial churches has undergone the process of indigenization. This process is carried out by incorporating the prevailing Hispano-American and Medieval Spanish architecture with local as well as Muslim and Chinese touches. Just as the Miag-ao church where you can see its Mexican, European, Moro, and Indian influence. Which equals to a mestizo/hispanic culture. :)

Viewing architectural pieces moves you and takes you to whole eras of the past. The massive gray stonewalls of these structures are truly amazing. For those brilliant structures were erected not by the Spanish but by the loving hands of OUR people. The similarity is that, the SAME identical churches and buildings are across the Pacific Ocean, when visiting in Hispanicamerica.

Philippines architecture makes her UNIQUE in Asia and the Pacific. :yes:

[lewdsaint]

Some of these structures were already destroyed during WW II.

source: Asian Studies, Wisconcin University

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid202/p24e7073818478899b70d0ae1ed36d3c5/efbb1cb9.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid202/p7a9bce7d3bed09b2502973e2bb7e323a/efbb1c9e.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid202/pb1530bbba44c9482cf777f4b03d63f10/efbb1c91.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid202/p9d0af27306dafe4ff6a6dfd212d910ff/efbb1c6e.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid202/pc2162e2e9417cb90b5fa8bca9384a4e2/efbb1c55.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid202/p49cc32e1aae13f16677ee25a10c46105/efbb1c4e.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid202/p33fc99cb114dc7a6fb2c301672c86993/efbb1c2a.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid202/p041e5bed7cb0c03c8767d2e58d43f33e/efbb1c2b.jpg

[Wonderboy]

Getting Our Heritage to Survive the Ages
Augusto F. Villalon

The year 2001 was when heritage conservationists flexed their muscles, forged partnerships with environmentalists to protect heritage, and tested the effectiveness of Philippine law in preserving the nation’s cultural heritage. It was a positive year for heritage. The National Museum declared 26 churches as National Treasures, starting a major restoration program by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.

Nielson Tower in Makati received an honorable mention in the prestigious UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards. The UNESCO-Arirang Prize donated by the Republic of Korea was bestowed on the Hudhud, the traditional Ifugao harvest chant, as one of 10 examples of “Masterpieces of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.” The year ended with the inscription of the Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras on the World Heritage in Danger List by UNESCO. It was also the year when the Ramon Magsaysay Award was given for the first time in recognition of cultural heritage: for lifelong efforts of Ikuo Hirayama who traveled from Japan along the Silk Road to preserve its treasures.

The useless demolition of Manila’s Jai Alai building in June 2000 was the catalyst that opened Filipino eyes to the fragility of the remaining symbols from our past. The intense protest to save the Jai Alai ended in a negotiation process between conservationists and city officials. However, before the process with Manila Mayor Lito Atienza could come to conclusion, he issued the order to demolish the Art Deco Manila landmark designed by the internationally renowned Los Angeles architect Welton Beckett in 1939. It felt like a helpless situation. With the Jai Alai building gone, the threat to national heritage became clear to a greater number of Filipinos and getting it to survive the ages required increased effort.

Why survive? Getting our heritage to survive the ages keeps alive the collection of cultural markers that set Filipinos apart as a unique people. They show our future generations what our shared Filipino identity is, establishing a sense of national pride so necessary to keep us centered during the current globalization process. Therefore, it is essential to keep the total heritage picture alive, an entire range of cultural markers produced by Filipino culture over the ages in the literature, music, painting, sculpture, and decorative arts, running the extent of life expressions including the cuisine that is uniquely ours.

Architecture is part of the heritage picture. Its scope spans the clusters of bahay kubo villages through the bahay na bato in Spanish colonial towns, to the American period Beaux-Arts urban planning of Manila and Baguio that became the model replicated in many Philippine cities, including present architecture which is the heritage we are leaving our future generations.

Although the awareness for heritage preservation has been increasing in the past decade, cultural heritage is still mostly unappreciated by a nation whose narrow view focuses on the present. Little realization exists that looking to the past to understand, to remember, and to preserve heritage is the groundwork for planning for the future of the country. The paradigm exists that a country still in the development struggle has no place or budget to preserve the old, the traditional, and the historic.

Progress is achieved at the expense of removing everything old to give way to the new and modern, a theory presented in 1942 by the German economist Joseph Schumpeter in his book Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy . The 1942 mindset is still the rationale for many of the setbacks that plague heritage conservation in the Philippines. It provides the convenient rationalization that scarce national resources should be allocated to meet the needs of the here and now rather than being wasted on elitist efforts to preserve the old. Events in the past year brought out the need to resolve the clash between “creative destruction” and the more current view that conserving heritage is the basis for sustainable urban development and for establishing a sense of nationalism.

The conservation issue of 2001 was the announcement by Manila Mayor Atienza of his plans to construct the Park and Ride, a three-story bus terminal and parking building on the north end of the Mehan Garden. The second part of the plan was the proposal to transfer the City College of Manila from its present location in the former Philippine National Bank building on the Escolta to the south end of the garden. The mayor and his City Council’s response to the protests was that the protesters stood in the way of progress.

To save Mehan Garden, the conservation circle expanded to include various artists’ and environmental non-government organizations, signaling that heritage conservation is a multisectoral concern. They launched a joint protest with a “Picnic in the Park” on World Environment Day, June 5, 2001. For the picnic, the Winner Foundation opened the gates of its Arroceros Forest Park, a thriving Central Manila mini-forest in the improbable location at the foot of Quezon Bridge between the Pasig River and Arroceros Street.

The morning picnic under the leafy shade was proof of how green spaces renew the quality of polluted city air and provide the rare inner-city open spaces that Manila lacks. In a serenade to Mehan Garden, three tenors sang “I Never Thought I’d See a Poem as Lovely as a Tree,” the Bayanihan danced, and Alejandro Roces, former secretary of education and current head of the MRTCB, reminisced about the Mehan Garden of his youth.

Subsequently, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) responded and revoked the Environmental Clearance Certificate (ECC) for the Park and Ride. The DENR further issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the grounds that necessary permits were not previously obtained from the National Historical Institute and the National Museum. Because of its declaration as a National Historical Site, Presidential Decree 260 states that the NHI must approve any changes to Mehan Garden. By virtue of the National Museum designation of the area as an archeological site, clearance from the museum must precede any construction. City Hall admitted ignorance to the NHI and National Museum laws. City authorities ignored both the TRO and the P50,000 a day fine imposed by the DENR, continuing construction until the illegal structure was completed in December 2001.

The construction of the City College of Manila was delayed, pending the identification of suitable alternate locations by a search committee which identified the Avanceña High School in Quiapo, the Veterans Bank Building on Arroceros, and the site of the former Ateneo de Municipal in Intramuros. The Intramuros site was chosen as the best of the alternatives. Negotiations with the Department of Tourism, the owner of the Intramuros site, began and remained unresolved at year’s end.

With Mehan Garden setting the precedent, similar cases where the NHI and National Museum laws were ignored in favor of development projects were reported to the Heritage Conservation Society: Fuerte Concepcion Inmaculada del Triunfo in Ozamis City, Huluga Caves in Misamis Oriental, Fort San Pedro in Cebu City, Balayan Church in Batangas. DENR intensified its cooperation with the heritage sector by requiring clearances from the NHI and National Museum before issuing ECCs.

The existing laws for the protection of heritage were tested in the courts. The Heritage Conservation Society pursued its case against Intramuros Administrator Dominador Ferrer Jr. for the illegality of the contract with Overseas Construction and Development Corporation that allowed leasing portions of the Intramuros walls for development.

It was a year that saw many conservation conferences. Far Eastern University organized an international conference on urban planning and heritage conservation. The Instituto Cervantes lecture series included lectures on heritage by Javier Galván, architect and director of the Instituto Cervantes who spoke on the endangered Spanish colonial architecture, Fr. Guillermo Tejón, OP, on “Padre Valverde, Urban Planner and Road Builder,” Dr. Jaime Laya on homes of the Spanish period.

The Cultural Heritage Program of the Ateneo de Manila and the Heritage Conservation Society conducted “Manila’s Heritage from Past to Future in Quiapo” that recognized “a clear appraisal to our right to culture and our right to protect evidence of such a culture.”

The National Museum declared 26 Spanish colonial churches as National Treasures: Bacong (Negros Oriental), Balayan (Batangas), Betis (Pampanga), Boljo-on (Cebu), Calasiao (Pangasinan), Dupax (Nueva Vizcaya), Guiuan (Samar), Jasaan (Misamis Oriental), Jimenez (Misamis Occidental), Lazi (Siquijor), Loboc (Bohol), Luna (La Union), Mahatao (Batanes), Magsingal (Ilocos Sur), Majayjay (Laguna), Maragondon (Cavite), Masinloc (Zambales), Pan-ay (Capiz), Romblon (Romblon), Rizal (Cagayan), San Joaquin (Iloilo), Tabaco (Albay), Tanay (Rizal), Tayabas (Quezon), Tayum (Abra), and Tumauini (Isabela). The NCCA responded to the declaration by initiating a project that provides technical assistance by qualified conservation practitioners for the churches.

There were more opportunities to experience heritage in 2001 than in previous years. The monthly Heritage Walking Tours series sponsored by the Heritage Conservation Society offered members and guests visits guided by respected historians and architects to places normally restricted to the public: San Beda Chapel, Far Eastern University campus, and the University of Santo Tomas campus. Private homes in Taal (Batangas), Malolos, Malabon, and San Miguel (Bulacan) were opened for visits. Of special interest was the tour of four turn-of-the-20th-century fire stations in Manila in Tanduay, San Nicolas, Paco, and Intramuros. Walks around the Luneta, the Escolta, and the Intramuros walls were so well-attended that they are now given regularly.

The irony of it all is that despite local apathy towards conservation, Philippine efforts in heritage conservation received international notice in 2001. After receiving the NCCA Alab ng Haraya award for heritage conservation, UNESCO awarded an honorable mention to the former Nielson Tower, now the Filipinas Heritage Library. Built in 1937, the Art Deco structure was one of the earliest airports in Asia. It ceased functioning as an airport in 1948. Its two runways became the anchors for the present-day Makati Business District, Ayala Avenue and Paseo de Roxas. In 1949, it housed the offices of the Integrated Property Development Corp and the Ayala police detachment. From the late 1970s to 1994, it was as a fine dining restaurant aptly called Nielson Tower. Its present makeover was in 1994 when Architects International and Leandro V. Locsin and Partners reworked the heritage structure into the Filipinas Heritage Library.

The NCCA cited the Nielson Tower for “being a remarkable illustration of cultural conservation through adaptive reuse manifested in the architecture of the library” and for “elevating people’s understanding of the need to preserve and study the nation’s heritage and has stood as clear proof of the power of foresight.”

The UNESCO citation read: “The impressive conversion of one of Asia’s earliest airports into a heritage library represents a major achievement in preserving an important era of Manila’s history. Historical events and architecture are exemplified in the legacy of the structure and in the excellent choice to continue its livelihood as an educational facility. In a time of rapid urban development and expansion, the Nielson Tower is an excellent model for others to follow on how to appropriately re-adapt historic structures in the community.”

The other entries for the UNESCO award in 2001 manifest the high quality of preservation or adaptive re-use in the Philippines: the Balay Negrense in Silay, the Fule-Malvar Mansion in San Pablo City, the Orchid Garden Suites in Manila, and the Zaragoza Residence in Vigan.

The last heritage milestone of 2001 was the inscription of the Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras, the first “continuing cultural landscape” inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List in the “World Heritage in Danger” list. It signaled that the international community supports the Philippine government in increasing conservation efforts for the threatened site.

2001 was a year of setting precedents. It established that the concern for our heritage is multisectoral. Nielson Tower proved the viability of adaptive re-use within the context of valuable Makati real estate, an example that the new need not be at the expense of building over the old.

Hopefully, the heritage events of 2001 will crystallize the Filipino’s vision of himself, of the importance that his culture survive the ages to form the basis of national identity and national development. The trashing of Philippine cities exemplifies the national neglect of our heritage and the cavalier disregard of authorities for existing preservation legislation. People cannot be expected to take care of their surroundings if they have no understanding and love for them, without having any knowledge of their value and meaning. The battle for heritage to survive the ages gained much ground in the past year.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reference:
*From Sanghaya 2002, a yearbook on Philippine arts and culture, a publication of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.

About the author:

Augusto F. Villalonis one of the country’s leading experts on heritage conservation. Aside from being the principal architect of A. Villalon Associates, he has served as technical advisor for UNESCO and UNIDO. He is a member of the Committee on Monuments and Sites of the NCCA and the Philippine World Heritage Committee secretariat. He is also a columnist for Philippine Daily Inquirer.

[Wonderboy]

Dear HCS members and friends:

Below is a copy of Mila Lane's email.
Please e-mail her for your valuable support or involvement in the
campaign.

From: "Mila Lane" <milalane@silahis.com>
Subject: phil. heritage society
Date: Sat, 25 Feb 2006 04:30:17 +0800

Dear toti - mila lane here. how are you? always enjoy reading your
column in the inquirer. that's where I got your email address. Are
you connected with the phil. heritage society? In our barangay, New
Manila (Mariana) we are trying to stop certain politicians from changing
street names. Right now its Gilmore Avenue they want to change.
we heard that the Heritage Society has a resolution or ruling that no
street name can be changed unless the person whose name will be used
has been dead for 10 years.
In our case, it is Cecilia Munoz Palma whose name they want to use
instead of Gilmore. Do you know anything about this.?
We are conducting a signature campaign and collecting signatures of
thos who oppose changing this street name of Gilmore.
Can you give us information or suggestions that may be helpful? The
bill is already in Congress so we have to work fast.
Thanks a lot.

----------

This makes me really angry. Those damn politicians have nothing better to do than change street names!!! :gaah:

[JAMAICUS]

^^ Why are they doing this anyway? To put a mark of legacy of Philippine corruption and incompetence?

[Wonderboy]

^^ So I need your support Jamaicus. You may send an e-mail to Mila and ask how you could help while your Intramuros campaign is still a "work in progress."

[JAMAICUS]

We can do that.

[Wonderboy]

^^ Thanks for your help Jamaicus.

The bill in Congress is No. 5118 and was introduced by Congresswoman Nanette Castelo Daza, upon the prodiding of Tadeo Palma, the son of Justice Cecilia Munoz Palma. Tady Palma happens to live in New Manila and happens to be the secretary of Mayor Sonny Belmonte.

[JAMAICUS]

You should put that up on the Saving Intramuros thread.

[Wonderboy]

But Gilmore is located in New Manila.

[JAMAICUS]

^^ Huh?

[Wonderboy]

^^ He he...did I confuse you? :) What I meant was the SOS: Gilmore Street posting does not belong to the Intramuros thread since Gilmore Street is located in New Manila, Quezon City and not Intramuros.

Okay, I'll ask again...what particular post would you like me to add in the Intramuros thread?

[JAMAICUS]

^^ Never mind. My mind was so focused on Intramuros that I thought it was in Intramuros! Anyway, I think the NHI will surely not allow it or give the namechangers a hard time if it is really historical. Anyway, can you post some of the "Unhappy" pics of Intramuros like the informal settlements in order to attract pity for Intramuros?

[Wonderboy]

Well I tried taking pictures of squatters in Intramuros last week but one of them threw empty Coke bottles at me. Some of them were even shouting that they own the lot, that they bought it from whatsisname. Anyway, I'll try again later this week.

[JAMAICUS]

^^ WHAT!!! YOU SHOULD POST THIS STORY ON THE SAVE INTRAMUROS PAGE!!! THIS IS TRULY A SAD DAY FOR OUR CULTURE!!! TRULY SAD!!! Believe it or not, but tears just started to flow from my eyes. P#TA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Wonderboy]

In the meantime, below is a photo of Intramuros in the 50s. Squatters had put up their canvass roofed-shacks.

http://collections.lib.uwm.edu/catw/image/7961318982005_393913982005fr000923l.jpg

[Wonderboy]

Here's one...Intramuros in the 50s...

http://collections.lib.uwm.edu/catw/image/5315220982005_33815982005fr000936l.jpg

[overtureph]

Sense and Sensibility : A crying shame

First posted 00:40am (Mla time) Aug 06, 2005
By Bambi Harper
Inquirer News Service



Editor's Note: Published on page A13 of the August 6, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

IF the real meaning of heritage is inheritance -- that which past generations have handed down to us as stewards of the country's collective memory -- then like the foolish servant in the Bible parable, we have chosen to fritter it away. This is not to say that as a nation we don't have problems other than patrimonial destruction that threaten to overwhelm us in their magnitude. A cursory glance at any newspaper makes it clear that what ails us isn't going away any time soon or that our troubles can be cured with Band-Aid. If it would do any good, we could wonder how much we are to blame for these problems-whether economic or social-and if they aren't of our own making. But then I don't know that we're really given to much introspection or accepting our share of responsibility. (These days the opposition isn't zeroing in on blaming the Spanish or the Americans but trying to make us believe that one person is responsible for all our ills as though they had no hand in it despite many of them having been in government a donkey's years.)

Having said that, let me tell you a horror story that threatens to be worse than all the crimes against heritage I've run across (no, not as evil as demolishing the Jai-Alai building but close or claiming you're God's gift to preservation while obliterating Manila's historic spaces). Over the years to our grief, we've encountered the destruction of a peoples' patrimony due to greed, ignorance, political expediency, indifference and many times arrogance. This is a continuation of the sorry tale of our country and the senseless erasure of decades of history in the now woeful town of Argao in Cebu province.

The present church of Argao, whose first titular saint was Michael the Archangel, dates from around the beginning of the 19th century. It may have been the second or third to be constructed since the parish was founded in 1733. When I first saw it more than 30 years ago, it was a sleepy little pueblo by the sea although I learned later that antique dealers from Manila had already been there and the stunning ivory statue of St. Michael had long been gone.

Romantically, there were cobwebs and dust everywhere but they didn't obscure the baroque carving of the pews (since taken to the Cebu Cathedral, I hear) or the richly painted ceiling or the beautifully ornamented "retablos" that not even the apparent neglect could hide. Since the Filipino has lost so much of both his natural and man-made heritage, it was awesome to find a jewel like this one. In the intervening years, I would make an effort to travel to Argao whenever I was in Cebu to admire the gorgeous carvings and images. Some five years ago, they were still intact.

Last year, I began to hear whispers about the destruction of the images by a parish priest for reasons best known to himself (God knows what he told his bishop or whether he even bothered). Perhaps he saw the movie "Goldfinger" and imagined himself to be a latter-day Midas. Whatever insanity possessed him compelled him to go to the nearest hardware store, buy several gallons of gold paint and slather all the statues on the main altar. Perhaps he thought this was the way gold leaf was applied in the old days. During the Revolution, the donors from the town probably would have strung him up from the nearest tree and left him to the vultures.

The saddest part, it seems to me, is that we have so little left of this heritage. We like to say Bangkok has this or Bali has that and poor us, what do we have? Well, we had Argao, for one, but obviously it has been totally, thoroughly and terminally wasted on us.

Not satisfied with his grand feat of vandalism, Father Montecillo went off to continue the destruction of the town's heritage. In the cemetery, he had the carved main arch of the gate demolished to make way for his own design because it is said he wanted to enlarge the space. You think perhaps these people do this on purpose or are they just stupid?

Having been a member of the Committee on Monuments and Sites of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) for more years than I care to remember, we had already zeroed in on parish priests as part of the problem in the efforts to conserve this country's heritage. Ever since the NCCA was formed in the late 1980s, we kept trying to send lecturers on preservation to the seminaries. For years, we couldn't even get an appointment with the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines. Our reasoning was that the value of patrimony and cultural identity had to be explained to the seminarians and the responsibility of their stewardship emphasized.

More than a dozen years later, I don't think the committee has succeeded in getting a toehold on the door of a seminary. Consequently, the Church has produced priests like Montecillo who hasn't a clue about aesthetics or history and the concept of stewardship. Try to imagine what went through his brain that he dared put his mark on images that didn't belong to him and erase more than 100 years of history.

If I were younger, perhaps I might have felt anger at such arrogance but what I feel now is regret. I'm sorry for us. I'm sorry that we don't have the leaders who care enough or are enlightened enough, whether in the Church or in government. I'm sorry that our egos overwhelm us and we can't seem to see beyond our noses. Here is a country where so much has already been destroyed and here was a treasure that had been preserved all these many years, only to be destroyed by some idiot.

* * *

Comments at bambiharper@yahoo.com


Copyright 2006 Inquirer News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

emphasis mine.

[overtureph]

Sense and Sensibility : Viva Albay!

First posted 00:50am (Mla time) Sept 03, 2005
By Bambi Harper
Inquirer News Service



Editor's Note: Published on Page A13 of the September 3, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

JUST when I was about to write finis to the cause of Filipino heritage, seeing as the nation is losing both the Mehan Garden and the Arroceros Forest Park in one fell swoop with not a single public official protesting the carnage, along comes a letter from Albay Gov. Fernando Gonzalez informing me that the province was launching the Albay Architectural Heritage Project together with the Aquinas University on Aug. 29.

Delighted to get out of the Manila snake pit, still I nearly missed the plane due to a dysfunctional alarm clock and the malfunctioning owner. Leaving the house at 6:15 a.m. for the 7 a.m. flight, we reached the Naia 2 airport terminal in 15 minutes, making me seriously wonder while en route whether I would end up splattered all over the dashboard. I did get there on time, but rattled by the porter who said the passengers on the flight were boarding, I zoomed into the plane like Darna -- only to find I was the second passenger to board. (From now on, I'm not going to believe anyone who tells me I have to be at the airport an hour before departure.)

But back to the conference and the project. Research and documentation comprise the first phase divided into two areas: historical and architectural documentation. Dreaming big, the group hopes that this will eventually lead to restoration projects and the publication and use of historical writings in the schools. The intended outcome of this first phase will be a catalogue of historical structures, "complete with historical data, photographs and architectural plans." The people of Albay feel that it is a project of national importance, given its nature and scope since nothing of this kind has been done. Once finished, other provinces could use it as a reference and model.

Aquinas University's College of Architecture and Fine Arts, headed by its dean, Rino Fernandez, initially documented buildings and ruins in Albay, including the Tabaco Cimborio (I used to think the name referred to tobacco, but the word is actually "tabac," meaning bolo or knife), the churches in Tabaco, Sto. Domingo (this was a town called Libog, but with everyone mispronouncing it and having a good laugh, the townspeople decided to change it), Daraga, Camalig, Ligao and the Albay Cathedral and the ruins of Colegio de San Buenaventura in Guinobatan and Villa Encantada in Malinao.

The college is digitizing the ruins of Budiao, Cagsawa and Sinimbahanan; the churches of Guinobatan and Oas; Spanish bridges in the 3rd district; and the "mojones" in the 1st and 3rd districts. Architectural plans will be drawn up and material regarding the oral traditions, land titles, legal papers, journals, books, maps, plans, paintings, sketches and photographs in libraries and archives will be researched and compiled. Eventually, traveling exhibits will be mounted in all the municipalities of the province to enhance heritage awareness.

There is already a Mayon Volcano Heritage Tour Pamphlet Project being prepared by the Provincial Tourism and Cultural Office with the help of Aquinas University, which can be used for packaged tours of heritage sites around Mayon Volcano to serve both tourists and local tour guides providing information on the sites and including socio-historical, cultural and artistic data. Photos and architectural and structural features of the sites will also be included. This project also aims to raise awareness in order to preserve these heritage sites.

The people of other provinces and cities should be so lucky as to have a governor like Gonzalez. At the conference held at the spanking new Hotel Venezia Convention Hall, Bishop Jose C. Sorra gave an impassioned and stirring address that the Cebu cardinal should have heard so that the parish priest of Argao, guilty of erasing 200 years of history, could be exiled to Burias or perhaps to the Marianas, which unfortunately doesn't belong to us anymore. The presence of Bishop Lucilo Quimpo, representing Bishop Nestor Cariño, and the presence of many of the parish priests of the churches in question manifested their support and solidarity behind the governor's project. And then there was Director Javier Galvan of the Instituto Cervantes who presented a substantial check to fund phase one of the project.

Considering that I was there for only 24 hours, I managed to end up with a python in my freezer, several tons of pili nuts in all forms and configurations, thanks to our generous hosts, and trays of "pinangat" ]a fish dish] to remind me that proteins don't taste good without carbos.

The python ended up in my freezer because I wanted to eat "bayawak" [iguana]. Being innately hospitable and gracious and wanting to oblige eccentric guests, Professors Jazmin Llana and Bonita Mission stopped by a restaurant poetically called Solamente owned by a Mr. Regalado. Alas and alack, there were no lizards but there was a snake and would I care to eat some? Now what self-respecting full-blooded Filipina will turn down such an offer?

Aside from python, we were also served some wonderful crispy snipes and frogs' legs. At the end of this marvelous experience, Regalado asked me if I wanted a python to make into shoes and maybe a belt, which was how I ended up with a 15-foot python (or was it 25?) in the freezer, to the shock of the maid. Now, if I could only find someone who cures skins...

* * *

Comments at bambiharper@yahoo.com


Copyright 2006 Inquirer News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[overtureph]

Thursday, November 03, 2005


UNSOLVED CRIMES

Church robbers invade Visayas

By Jeannette I. Andrade, Reporter
The Manila Times

The church is probably the last place anyone expects a crime to be committed.

But between 2002 and 2004, a wave of thefts swept several churches in the Visayas.

Catholic churches in Bohol, Iloilo and Cebu were the scenes of decapitations, mutilations and disappearances of centuries-old religious icons and artifacts.

Although church thefts were recorded even before 2002, at least 30 robberies were committed in that year.

The Santa Filomena Church in Sibonga town, Cebu, was the first victim. On April 2 the heads and hands of the statues of Saint Peter and the “Birhen Maria Salome” were cut off by unidentified persons.

The vandalism shocked devotees of the patron saints.

Local police had no leads and the case lay forgotten.

On June 1 thieves struck at the San Guillermo de Aquitania Church in Dalaguete, Cebu, decapitating a five-foot Sacred Heart of Jesus icon. Another mutilation occurred in Santander town, and later, 160-year-old icons at Sogod and Catmon towns were taken.

In Sogod town the hands and head of Saint James as well as the ivory images of Saint Joseph, Sagrada Corazon and the Medalla Milagrosa were swiped, and in Catmon the century-old statue of San Guillermo de Aquitania disappeared. Similar thefts took place in Alcoy and San Remigio towns.

At this point the Cebu Provincial Police Office took notice and coordinated with churches around the province in securing the religious images.

Because security in Cebu churches tightened, the thieves shifted to churches in Bohol.

On November 16 the churches in Talibon and Garcia Hernandez towns lost the images of San Roque, Virgin Dolorosa, Virgin of Happy, the Holy Child Jesus, the hands and head of Saint Joseph and 10 antique priests’ robes.

No more thefts took place for four months after that. The break ended on March 5, 2003, when Barangay Cam*bitoon in Inabanga town lost its San Vicente Ferrer and San Roque icons.

The thieves then returned to Cebu, striking once every week for five months, resting for two months and then resuming their vandalism.

On November 26, 2003, a break-in was reported at the parish in Bacong, Negros Oriental, which lost the statues of San Jose, San Isidro Labrador, the Virgin of Korea and Santa Monica.

The statues of San Jose and San Isidro Labrador had been in the church since the 19th century and were considered priceless.

The resurgence meant that the group responsible for the thefts in Cebu and Bohol had transferred its operations anew. But Cebu remained its base of operations.

Iloilo was the next target. In Tigbauan and Santa Barbara towns on November 24 and 25, 2004, thieves made off with the feet of a 15th-century Santo Niño statue estimated at half a million pesos and the ivory head of San Agustin which has been with the Santa Barbara Parish since 1872.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines Commission on the Cultural Heritage of the Church sought the help of the Philippine National Police to catch the thieves and recover the religious items.

The religious images are priceless, and their loss appeals for the preservation of centuries of faith and culture.

[ark]

MIAG-AO CHURCH for my honest opinion is the best represent catholic church for the whole island of Pnas :D

Actually, they also considered it as the "MOST FILIPINO OF ALL CHURCHES" perhaps because the bas relief depict philippine flora such as the coconut and papaya. And I tell you, it is a spectacle once you stand right before it, its different in the pictures, coz in 'personal', the church literally glows 'coz of the yellow sandstone. Its simply breathtaking, I mean I'm in Iloilo and I've visited this church so many times but it always takes my breath away. :cheers:

[ark]

Some of these structures were already destroyed during WW II.

Sayang yung Oton Church, used to be the largest in Asia. I hope later they can reconstruct the structure kahit sa ibang lugar lang tulad ng ginawa ng Villa Escudero.

[tigidig14]

^are you serious that used to be the biggest in Asia

[ark]

^are you serious that used to be the biggest in Asia

Yes, at least that's what the DOT says. Ive seen other pictures (taken from other angles) of the church at the Museo Iloilo and its quite huge. :bash:

It was destroyed by an earthquake that hit Panay Island. I'm not sure if it was the same earthquake that destroyed the Jaro Belfry, luckily, the belfry was restored. :runaway: :runaway: :runaway:

[ark]

OLD BUILDINGS OF ILOILO CITY CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT
REMINISCENCE OF THE OLD GLORIES OF ILOILO

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e116/gedalanga/cusyomeh.jpg

ILOILO CUSTOMS HOUSE, PORT OF ILOILO. Iloilo used to be the second most significant port in the country.

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e116/gedalanga/iloilooldbldg8.jpg

HOSKYNS COMPOUND (used to house the Hoskyns and Co.-the first department store in the country)

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e116/gedalanga/sanjoch.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e116/gedalanga/sanjose3.jpg

SAN JOSE PARISH AND PLAZA LIBERTAD

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e116/gedalanga/landmarks--upv_iloilolibe.jpg

THE OLD CITY HALL OF ILOILO. Now the Library of the UP Visayas Iloilo City Campus.

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e116/gedalanga/iloilooldbldg9.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e116/gedalanga/iloilooldbldg7.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e116/gedalanga/iloilooldbldg6.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e116/gedalanga/iloilooldbldg5.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e116/gedalanga/iloilooldbldg4.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e116/gedalanga/iloilooldbldg1.jpg

SOME OF THE OLD BUILDINGS OF ILOILO CITY PROPER. Most of them are Art Deco (1930s and up). Iloilo City was burnt down during the Filipino-American War so most structures in the city proper dates back to the American Era.

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e116/gedalanga/iloilocapitolpostcard.jpg

THE OLD CAPITOL BUILDING OF ILOILO AND THE ARROYO FOUNTAIN

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e116/gedalanga/arroyo.jpg

ARROYO Fountain. Would you believe that this fountain was named after a certain Senator "Jose Pidal" Arroyo? nalaman ko lang at the height of the 'Jose Pidal' issue.

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e116/gedalanga/museoiloilo.jpg

THE MUSEO ILOILO (before the paint job)

Just a Trivia: Iloilo became the capital of the Philippines after Manila fell to the hands of the Americans.

[Wonderboy]

^^ Nice Iloilo photos Ark! :) It's nice to know that most of the heritage structures are still in use.

Below is an article published on PDI last week re: Iloilo's concern for heritage sites. I hope the Manileños could also do the same.

Pride of Place:Iloilo, heritage champion

First posted 11:58pm (Mla time) Mar 19, 2006
By Augusto Villalon
Inquirer

ILOILO EVOKES MANY PLEASANT images, each one as soothing as its melodious language whose lilt perfectly sums up the local lifestyle and culture: laid-back Southern gentility graciously lived in a city on the banks of a river whose languorous flow sets the peaceful tone of the residents' pulse.

There is no other city in the Philippines with an image as distinct as Iloilo.

Once the center of the Visayan sugar industry, the city retains vestiges of that era. Muelle Loney, the city dock, commemorates Nicholas Loney, the Englishman who industrialized the sugar industry in the 19th century, exported sugar globally from Iloilo, and brought prosperity to the province.

There was another side to the entrepreneurial Loney who flooded the Iloilo market with cheap, machine-woven textiles imported from England, a move killing the flourishing Ilonggo hand-loom industry which was the source of the best hand-woven fabric in the Philippines.

Nevertheless, the face Iloilo presents today is still sugar-sweet. Elegant arcaded colonnades dating back to the Commonwealth era still shade city-center sidewalks, an urban amenity now vanished from other Philippine city centers in the name of development.

The Commonwealth-era buildings of Iloilo face extinction. The new malls have taken away retail activity from the old city center. There are plans to reuse the old downtown buildings to produce a heritage-destination setting that attracts the public and tourists away from the malls, a plan seen to revive the old city center and return luster to the city's tarnished pride of place.

Iloilo ilustrados

Descendants of illustrious Iloilo families continue to live in their stately homes that stand sometimes alone, at other times behind rows of commercial developments, on city streets that retain shabby remnants of its former grandeur.

Progress has swept away sidewalks, trees, and the small plazas that once made the city more livable than it is today.

Nevertheless, the city presents a wide range of architecture. Houses range from pre-20th century bahay na bato of the Spanish colonial era.

In Iloilo, the houses take on a Visayan character. They are more open and embellished than their Tagalog relatives. Superb mansions from the American colonial era, built in the 1920s in an eclectic style typical to Iloilo, remain.

Probably one of the best-preserved 1930s Art Deco houses in the country is aptly called Boat House, a reference to its flowing, streamlined lines recalling sleek ocean liners considered the height of modernity during that era, causing that particular variant of the Art Deco style to be called Moderne.

Iloilo unfolds on different levels. Some mansions struggle for existence side by side with unregulated commercial development on city streets. Fast-food stores in malls fail to capture faithful customers who still insist on going to the market, not a restaurant, for an authentic batchoy fix.

Ilonggo culture tempers 21st-century mass media and Internet culture with Visayan tradition, creating an interesting mix of cutting-edge technology and the old.

With its feet firmly planted on tradition is the Panaderia de Molo, an Iloilo icon deserving to be a national treasure. Its trademark striped tins of handmade cookies are prized gifts to any Filipino. Its bakery products are coveted Pinoy comfort food that maintain the old taste and texture no longer found in mass-manufactured products from commercial bakeries.

Established by the Jason sisters, ownership has passed to their Sanson great-granddaughters, the fourth generation of the family to manage the bakery. This generation zealously maintains original family recipes, still kneads and mixes by hand, uses traditional wooden and bamboo implements, and bakes in clay ovens fired by wood especially grown in the family's plantation.

Conservation body

Bent on preserving heritage, the Iloilo City Cultural Heritage and Conservation Council (ICCHCC) actively takes a hand in guiding the city to attaining a balance between tradition and the 21st century.

Enjoying support from City Mayor Jerry Tre¤as, who understands that the identity of Iloilo lies in its culture, well-connected ICCHCC board members are Iloilo movers involved in city government, civic organizations, mass media, business, professional and academic circles.

The ICCHCC is among the few organizations in the Philippines that have greatly increased heritage awareness. The organization successfully held a heritage awards program in 2005 that awarded the winners of a student essay competition and presented awards recognizing the best conservation and adaptive reuse of heritage architecture in the city.

Among its awardees were ancestral homes reused as schools, religious convents or restaurants, proof that heritage structures can be used for contemporary needs.

In May, the ICCHCC goes into full gear. Iloilo hosts the national culminating activity for Philippine Heritage Month on May 30-31 this year.

For the entire month of May the tireless

ICCHCC presents a series of activities celebrating heritage. A Flores de Mayo, exhibits of traditional culture, musical performances, lectures, and dance performances will be held in different venues all over the city.

The closing ceremonies in Iloilo City will be the highlight of the month-long celebration and focus on Panay cultural heritage, specifically Iloilo. During the two days, activities and events will include walking tours, park concerts, cultural performances, religious rites, and ceremonial receptions.

A good place to start an Iloilo visit would be at Museo Iloilo, whose exhibits introduce what the city is all about and whose director, Zaffy Ledesma, has an inside track on local history.

Walk next door from the Museo to the Department of Tourism Office (tel. 033-3375411) for detailed information on all cultural and tourism events sponsored either by the ICCHCC or the DOT which share an office in Iloilo City.

Feedback is welcome at afvillalon@hotmail.com

[Wonderboy]

Regina Building in Escolta --- one of my favorite prewar structures (hence my avatar):

http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/2261/avatar18iy.jpg

[le Reine]

The pictures of Iloilo structures are really great! Thanks for posting them. Truly, Iloilo is the champion with regards to heritage conservation. But while I was looking on the pictures, it seems that most of the structures need maintenance. Oh well, at least the buildings were not torn down unlike in Manila or in any other place in the country.

[overtureph]

Inquirer Northern Luzon : The ‘Parthenon’ gets a facelift

First posted 03:01am (Mla time) Mar 29, 2006
By Tonette Orejas
Inquirer



Editor's Note: Published on Page A19 of the March 29, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

THESE buildings are called the Gabaldon. Three, perhaps more, generations of Filipinos learned the Three Rs (reading, ’riting and ’rithmetic) in what are now regarded as the “Parthenon” of the golden years of Philippine public education system.

The structures count by the thousands and are spread out all over the archipelago, with some towns or cities having two or more.

Almost a century since Assemblyman Isauro Gabaldon of Nueva Ecija in 1907 authored Act 1801 that set aside P1 million for their construction, the buildings—many of them run down by time, the elements, looting and neglect—are enjoying a restoration boom with a strong thrust for conserving the original, functional design.

Yale graduate William Parsons, the consulting architect of the Bureau of Public Works from 1905 to 1914, designed the school buildings that were later named after Assemblyman Gabaldon.

The Department of Education and the Heritage Conservation Society (HCS) are leading efforts through the heritage school building restoration program.

“Pioneering” is how architect Augusto Villalon of the HCS calls the partnership.

The idea, Villalon said in a recent column in the Inquirer, came from former Education Secretary Armand Fabella, and was pushed by his successors, the late Br. Andrew Gonzalez FSC and Edilberto de Jesus, as well as Undersecretary Juan Miguel Luz.

The program has completed the restoration of the Rizal Elementary School in Bacolod City, the Pampanga High School in the City of San Fernando in Pampanga, and the Baguio Central School in Baguio City, according to HCS member Ivan Anthony Henares.

Up for restoration are the West Central Elementary School and its adjacent home economics building in Dagupan City, said Henares, who has created a web log or blog (gabaldon.blogspot.com) to link individuals, groups, institutions and donors to the effort.

“The sheer number of Gabaldon schools all over the country and the lack of funds to restore these buildings would not make it possible to include all in the program,” he said.

Heritage resources

The buildings are “an inherent part of our country’s heritage resources,” he said.

The project has the support of the locals.

In Naga City, Councilor Lourdes Asence has authored a proposed ordinance that seeks to create a task force for the preservation and restoration of all historical structures, including six Gabaldon buildings in that city and in Camarines Sur.

In Bohol, the provincial government spent P2.5 million in 2004 to repair some of its Gabaldon buildings.

In their respective websites, historians in Infanta, Quezon, and in Leganes, Iloilo, have cited the history of their towns’ Gabaldon buildings and their impact on the people’s education.

Party-list Rep. Florencio Noel (An Waray) has filed House Bill No. 4392 proposing the rehabilitation and repair of Gabaldon school houses nationwide to “preserve their historical significance and to address the need for more school buildings.”

History

Some have indeed etched their place in history.

For instance, the Gabaldon building in Dagupan became a temporary residence of American Gen. Douglas MacArthur during World War II, according to Carmen Prieto, chair of the city’s heritage commission.

Others served as hospitals, town halls or evacuation centers in times of war and calamities.

More importantly, it was in the rooms, libraries and wide grounds of the Gabaldon buildings that American and Filipino educators helped unlock the potentials of students, many of them poor.

The Pampanga High School, for one, nurtured many of the country’s leaders like the late President Diosdado Macapagal (Class 1929).

But perhaps one of the most poignant memories of the Gabaldon and a vivid description of the edifice comes from one who passed through its halls.

Former Quezon Board Member Frumencio “Sonny” Pulgar, in his website, said that as a student, he was a habitué of the “Gusaling Gabaldon” or “Bagong Iskul,” the elementary school in his hometown of Calauag.

“For me, Gabaldon was the biggest edifice I had ever seen and played in,” he said.

“True, it is not a multistory structure; in fact, it’s a mere one-story affair, but I looked at it with awe. Its ceiling was high, about five meters. I thought giants walked through the corridors of Gabaldon. It had a long five-tread flight of stairs leading to its elevated portico, which we used as stage on special occasions,” he said.

The Gabaldon’s center rooms were divided by a collapsible wooden partition that could be folded and converted into a pavilion, he said.

“Gabaldon’s windows were huge … The windows were sashed and made of latticed capiz-tagkawayan. Its façade had those Romanesque Doric-like pillars I’d seen only in pictures like the Parthenon,” Pulgar said.

“Its rooms were big and wide, with lauan floors. Its doors were imposing and made from thick and heavy narra. It had a cavernous silong (basement)—home of the kabag (bats), ahas tulog (snakes), alupihan (centipede) and giant rats. Though it stank in there, we used it as (a) hiding place whenever we were late in flag rites,” he said.

The Gabaldon buildings are “attuned to the tropics,” Villalon noted.

Breezy and cool

“The building is breezy and cool. Being inside the restored building today proves that old-style tropical architecture is still the best for our climate,” he said.

There’s a practical sense to ongoing, albeit slow, efforts.

“Instead of being rendered obsolete, old structures can still be recycled for modern academic uses,” Villalon said.

“By restoring classrooms, the DepEd drives home the lesson that patrimony lives and continues to be relevant to our lives. Classes in heritage classrooms provide experiential learning on patrimony with a stronger impact than textbook instruction,” he said.



Copyright 2006 Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://news.inq7.net/regions/index.php?index=2&story_id=70904&col=36

[daDJ]

A Manila landmark that needs restoration and preservation is the stately Luneta Hotel along T.M. Kalaw.

Will somebody take shots of this once-grand dame by the bay? (well, apart from The Manila Hotel of course - another grand structure by the bay)

[bustero]

Any pix of what these "gabaldons" look like???

[daDJ]

It's a structure made of wood - the floor and the walls are all wood except for the GI sheets roofing. Very imposing. Normally has two big rooms on opposite ends. The frontage has a little balcony of sorts with 3-4 steps and facing the flag pole and an open area for flag ceremonies and other school activities such as graduation, sports fest, etc..
Some gabaldon buildings act as shool libraries or administration offices.

[overtureph]

QC wants seedling bank out to pave way for urban jungle

First posted 05:01am (Mla time) Mar 29, 2006
By DJ Yap, Blanche S. Rivera
Inquirer



Editor's Note: Published on page A1 of the Mar. 29, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

ONLY GOD can make a tree but man can build a condominium.

The Manila Seedling Bank Foundation Inc. could be replaced by a high-rise condominium unless the foundation pays P59 million in real estate taxes being demanded by the Quezon City government, according to city treasurer Victor Endriga.

"This is plain harassment. They want this corner for the commercial malls, with the intention to create a concrete jungle at the expense of ecology and the environment," Manila Seedling Bank president Lucito Bertol told the Inquirer in an interview.

He said the foundation was exempted from all forms of taxation, duties and imposts by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 1197, issued by former President Ferdinand Marcos on Sept. 7, 1977.

Half a million seedlings could become homeless once the foundation is ordered to vacate its 7-hectare office-cum-garden on the corner of EDSA (Epifanio delos Santos Avenue) and Quezon Avenue.

The city treasurer had auctioned off the prime property in December last year, after serving a final note on delinquency to the foundation for failing to pay its property taxes from 1978 to 2005.

Since no one made a bid, the city stands to assume ownership of the property, unless the Manila Seedling Bank manages to pay its dues, including interest and fines, before a mandatory one-year redemption period.

The redemption period lapses in December. Should the foundation fail to settle its obligations until then, the city automatically acquires the property, Endriga said.

No notice for taxation

According to Bertol, the Manila Seedling Bank has not received any notice for taxation in the past 28 years, until Endriga served a statement in October 2005, saying the foundation had failed to pay real property taxes from 1978 to 2005, totaling P59 million.

"We have never been charged any real property [taxes]. This is the first time Quezon City has tried to collect from us," Bertol said.

Endriga dismissed PD 1197 exempting the foundation from tax duties, saying it had been nullified by more recent laws, among them the Local Government Code, that declares any commercial-use property taxable.

He said the Manila Seedling Bank -- which had been propagating and giving free seedlings for reforestation for almost three decades -- was considered commercial, since it leased out the property to tenants, such as a florist's shop.

Endriga added that the property was actually owned by the National Housing Authority, with which the foundation is entangled with in an ownership squabble that has been brought to court.

He said the city had been serving its tax notices to the NHA for the longest time, but no one had been paying the taxes. It was only recently that the city treasurer's office undertook measures to recover the unsettled obligations.

Henry Sy interested

According to Endriga, many developers are "very interested" in the prime property, particularly shopping mall magnate Henry Sy, who has signified his intention to bid for it.

Already, plans are afoot to convert the area into a commercial complex, with a high-rise condominium and parks, as part of the city's "Central Business District" project.

"Putting up a mall is not among the initial plans since it might compete with SM City North EDSA (which Sy also owns)," Endriga said.

The CBD spans the North and East Triangles that are bounded by East Avenue, EDSA, North Avenue and Elliptical Road, including the Veterans Memorial Hospital.

If plans push through, and the city secures a presidential proclamation declaring the area a business hub, the city will open to developers several hectares of prime property, which will be infused with as much as P1 billion capital for development.

No green spot

"[This will] spell the demise of that green spot right in the heart of the metropolis that acts as a giant sponge tin purifying the polluted atmosphere in the area," the Manila Seedling Bank said in a statement.

The foundation helped in the reforestation of the La Mesa Dam Watershed, Marikina Watershed, Meralco Jala-jala project, Mt. Samat Agro forestry project, Philippine Nuclear Power Plant project, Bataan Industrial Tree Plantation and the Mountain Resort in Baras, Rizal.

Endriga said the development of the Manila Seedling Bank property was by no means final. There was still the slim possibility that the foundation would pay up, he said.

In fact, the seedling bank was identified as one of the "challenges" to the development of the area, according to a primer on the CBD obtained by the Inquirer.

Other stumbling blocks

Other possible stumbling blocks include the large number of informal settlers and a standing contract between NHA and New San Jose Builders Inc. and Robinson's Land, for the lease development of a 37-ha property near the Metro Rail Transit depot on EDSA.

The city is already in talks with the NHA for a possible joint management of the CBD, Endriga said.

Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr., on the other hand, is on the verge of bringing the matter of the CBD to the attention of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, he said.

"Considering that the President is preoccupied, we need proper timing [for the proposal]," Endriga said.


Copyright 2006 Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[Wonderboy]

A Manila landmark that needs restoration and preservation is the stately Luneta Hotel along T.M. Kalaw.

Will somebody take shots of this once-grand dame by the bay? (well, apart from The Manila Hotel of course - another grand structure by the bay)

As requested, below are a couple of 'then and now' photos of the Luneta Hotel taken early last year by TheCameraReturns.

Luneta Hotel is still in its sorry state. I wonder what NHI is doing since their office is just across the hotel!

Again, thanks to TCR for the photos.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid77/pe02b07e5a6c6e7b5a70a4385fbc25cfc/fb3025fc.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y180/Circa1900/lunetahotel.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y180/Circa1900/DSC_0065.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y180/Circa1900/bayviewhotel45.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y180/Circa1900/DSC_0066.jpg

[Wonderboy]

^^ Overtureph, thanks for posting the article on QC seedling bank. I've also posted the article on HCS and HCS Diliman QC Chapter Yahoogroups.

[ark]

The pictures of Iloilo structures are really great! Thanks for posting them. Truly, Iloilo is the champion with regards to heritage conservation. But while I was looking on the pictures, it seems that most of the structures need maintenance. Oh well, at least the buildings were not torn down unlike in Manila or in any other place in the country.

We also had that problem, an old building was torned down to give way to the Iloilo Grand Hotel, the Cacho Building and the 'Dainty Restaurant' torned down, a mansion in Jaro district gave way to the Mercury Drug, a mansion across the University of San Agustin gave way to the Mandaue Foam showroom and a new building...and so on.

But at least now, Ilonggo people are more concerned 'bout our heritage.

A few years ago, concerns were aired when news that the old capitol be torned down to give way to a new one, a fire razed the capitol, fortunately only the rear was burned. Then when the plans were pushed through, they thought of demolishing the old capitol building, the Museo Iloilo, and the Iloilo Rehabilitation Center (also an old structure-looks like a fortress to me),but people became vigilant, even schools aired their sentiments, and the capitol, the museum, and IRC were saved. A new Central Business District is rising in Mandurriao, Iznart and JM Basa Streets were declared as Iloilo's Chinatown, a night market will be opened due this week at Muelle Loney, architects have proposals of making the old Calle Real a heritage center (like Vigan-only that you see Art Nouveau, Art Deco, and some Castillan structures) and so I think that our heritage will be here for a long time.

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e116/gedalanga/iloilofutureprovcapitol.jpg

Here's a rendu of our New Capitol Building side by side with the Old Capitol. (not shown-to the right of the new capitol is the IRC, to the front, the Museo Iloilo)

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e116/gedalanga/capitol/iloilocapitol.jpg

The new capitol building

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e116/gedalanga/capitol/iloilocapitolpostcard.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e116/gedalanga/capitol/arroyo.jpg

The old capitol building with the Arroyo Fountain

[daDJ]

If I were as rich as the Ayalas, I'd buy the Luneta Hotel and transform it into a grand boutique hotel. The lobby will be elegant with antique furniture and chandeliers. Adorning the wall is a mural by a great Filipino painter. The rooms will be furnished with works of various Filipino artists. The bed frames will be masterfully crafted by Pakil carpenters. Linens and other sheets will be hand embroidered by those ladies from Lipa and Malolos. The Luneta Hotel will be a showcase of Filipino craftmanship and hospitality. It will be a hotel like no other in the Orient. Not even Raffles or Fullerton can match its grandeur. hehehe.. OK, dream lang 'to ha.

[ark]

If I were as rich as the Ayalas, I'd buy the Luneta Hotel and transform it into a grand boutique hotel. The lobby will be elegant with antique furniture and chandeliers. Adorning the wall will be a mural by a great Filipino painter. The rooms will be adorned with works by Filipino artists. The bed frames will be masterfully crafted by carpenters from Pakil. Linens and other sheets will be hand embroidered by those ladies from Lipa and Malolos. The Luneta Hotel will be a showcase of Filipino craftmanship and hospitality. It will be a hotel like no other in the Orient. Not even Raffles or Fullerton can match its grandeur. hehehe.. OK, dream lang 'to ha.

yeah..nakita ko na ang Luneta Hotel and its beautiful, kaya lang medyo napabayaan na.

[ark]

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e116/gedalanga/jaro.jpg

THE OLD AND THE NEW. Jaro District, Iloilo City. In Iloilo City's city proper, most old buildings date back to the American Regime, while in Jaro, mostly are stately mansions dating back to the Spanish era. The danger is, Jaro is fast becoming a commercial district of Iloilo.

[Animo]

^^ On friday I will post photos of Iloilo's colonial architectures. I have photos that haven't been posted in this forum before (I think). :wink2:

[JAMAICUS]

QC wants seedling bank out to pave way for urban jungle

First posted 05:01am (Mla time) Mar 29, 2006
By DJ Yap, Blanche S. Rivera
Inquirer



Editor's Note: Published on page A1 of the Mar. 29, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

ONLY GOD can make a tree but man can build a condominium.

The Manila Seedling Bank Foundation Inc. could be replaced by a high-rise condominium unless the foundation pays P59 million in real estate taxes being demanded by the Quezon City government, according to city treasurer Victor Endriga.

"This is plain harassment. They want this corner for the commercial malls, with the intention to create a concrete jungle at the expense of ecology and the environment," Manila Seedling Bank president Lucito Bertol told the Inquirer in an interview.

He said the foundation was exempted from all forms of taxation, duties and imposts by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 1197, issued by former President Ferdinand Marcos on Sept. 7, 1977.

Half a million seedlings could become homeless once the foundation is ordered to vacate its 7-hectare office-cum-garden on the corner of EDSA (Epifanio delos Santos Avenue) and Quezon Avenue.

The city treasurer had auctioned off the prime property in December last year, after serving a final note on delinquency to the foundation for failing to pay its property taxes from 1978 to 2005.

Since no one made a bid, the city stands to assume ownership of the property, unless the Manila Seedling Bank manages to pay its dues, including interest and fines, before a mandatory one-year redemption period.

The redemption period lapses in December. Should the foundation fail to settle its obligations until then, the city automatically acquires the property, Endriga said.

No notice for taxation

According to Bertol, the Manila Seedling Bank has not received any notice for taxation in the past 28 years, until Endriga served a statement in October 2005, saying the foundation had failed to pay real property taxes from 1978 to 2005, totaling P59 million.

"We have never been charged any real property [taxes]. This is the first time Quezon City has tried to collect from us," Bertol said.

Endriga dismissed PD 1197 exempting the foundation from tax duties, saying it had been nullified by more recent laws, among them the Local Government Code, that declares any commercial-use property taxable.

He said the Manila Seedling Bank -- which had been propagating and giving free seedlings for reforestation for almost three decades -- was considered commercial, since it leased out the property to tenants, such as a florist's shop.

Endriga added that the property was actually owned by the National Housing Authority, with which the foundation is entangled with in an ownership squabble that has been brought to court.

He said the city had been serving its tax notices to the NHA for the longest time, but no one had been paying the taxes. It was only recently that the city treasurer's office undertook measures to recover the unsettled obligations.

Henry Sy interested

According to Endriga, many developers are "very interested" in the prime property, particularly shopping mall magnate Henry Sy, who has signified his intention to bid for it.

Already, plans are afoot to convert the area into a commercial complex, with a high-rise condominium and parks, as part of the city's "Central Business District" project.

"Putting up a mall is not among the initial plans since it might compete with SM City North EDSA (which Sy also owns)," Endriga said.

The CBD spans the North and East Triangles that are bounded by East Avenue, EDSA, North Avenue and Elliptical Road, including the Veterans Memorial Hospital.

If plans push through, and the city secures a presidential proclamation declaring the area a business hub, the city will open to developers several hectares of prime property, which will be infused with as much as P1 billion capital for development.

No green spot

"[This will] spell the demise of that green spot right in the heart of the metropolis that acts as a giant sponge tin purifying the polluted atmosphere in the area," the Manila Seedling Bank said in a statement.

The foundation helped in the reforestation of the La Mesa Dam Watershed, Marikina Watershed, Meralco Jala-jala project, Mt. Samat Agro forestry project, Philippine Nuclear Power Plant project, Bataan Industrial Tree Plantation and the Mountain Resort in Baras, Rizal.

Endriga said the development of the Manila Seedling Bank property was by no means final. There was still the slim possibility that the foundation would pay up, he said.

In fact, the seedling bank was identified as one of the "challenges" to the development of the area, according to a primer on the CBD obtained by the Inquirer.

Other stumbling blocks

Other possible stumbling blocks include the large number of informal settlers and a standing contract between NHA and New San Jose Builders Inc. and Robinson's Land, for the lease development of a 37-ha property near the Metro Rail Transit depot on EDSA.

The city is already in talks with the NHA for a possible joint management of the CBD, Endriga said.

Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr., on the other hand, is on the verge of bringing the matter of the CBD to the attention of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, he said.

"Considering that the President is preoccupied, we need proper timing [for the proposal]," Endriga said.


Copyright 2006 Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.




THIS IS WAY ABSURD, IMHO!!!! THEY CAN JUST TRANSFER! I mean, this is not an endangered rainforest!!!! The seedlings are not even planted in the area! They are planted in pots or separated land!!! The simplest thing that they can do is put the the seedlings in trucks and transfer to an area where Q.C. can provide it. I never thought I'll ever say this but I hope QC. will pull an Atienza on this.

[KiBeN]

^^ it's a good idea to find another place for this, if they really want to build a high rise condominium/or a commercial area.

[Wonderboy]

I would like to call the attention of Intramuros Administration...

http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/6073/ia7dy.jpg

[Wonderboy]

And by the way, there are a couple of stray dogs in Intramuros which I believe is dangerous for tourists, students and passersby...

http://img432.imageshack.us/img432/5282/dogs0bl.jpg
Rabbies galore...

[overtureph]

Pride of Place : Summer streetwalking discoveries

First posted 11:22pm (Mla time) April 02, 2006
By Augusto Villalon
Inquirer



Editor's Note: Published on page D4 of the April 3, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

GET OUT OF THE MALLS AND go streetwalking this summer. There is nothing like discovering the Philippine city, whether it be Manila, Cebu, Baguio, or whatever city you happen to find yourself in.

Actually each city has a story of its own, one that can be felt with the senses while walking, and the more you discover the story the more it comes to life. Some accurately call it feeling the pulse of the city.

Each city and each neighborhood within the city has a story of its own and therefore beats with an individual pulse.

There is a languid feel when experiencing Manila's Pasig River from the river walk along densely forested Arroceros Park that reminds you of Josè Rizal's late 19th-century descriptions of the beloved river.

On the opposite bank of the river is one of the business centers of Manila. There energy bristles. It presents another face of the city where the pulse is understandably different.

The pulse of a city is a combination of many things that take place within the protective envelope of a series of homes and buildings that form the urbanscape.

Within the vast urbanscape of each city, neighborhoods are pockets that reflect the distinct lifestyles of their inhabitants.

These are streetscapes inhabited and colored by the people-their visuals, sounds, smells and tastes that together illustrate the pulse of that particular section of the city.

A market neighborhood is obviously different from a purely residential neighborhood. A neighborhood of houses has a character totally unlike that of a skyscraper neighborhood.

Ethnic neighborhoods add a different flavor to the city. These are places where everything changes from the ordinary, the people, their sights, sounds, smells and cuisine.

In ethnic neighborhoods, you may find things out of the ordinary, as well as exotica and shops stocked with interesting goods.

Walking is really the only way to discover your city. Walk when the sun is not at its summer peak, either early in the morning or late in the afternoon.

During the noon hours, you may enjoy a slow, long lunch in the coolest place you can find. Stay there as long as they will let you. Allow the sun to start cooling off before you go back on the street.

Where to walk? Try your neighborhood first. Take a fresh look at what you have always taken for granted-the same old houses, sidewalks, rutted streets-but see how they tell the story of your neighborhood.

Are there still houses from a few generations ago? Have these houses been replaced with newer ones? Has the neighborhood gone commercial? Have shop spaces been built in the big front yards? On the other hand, discover how wonderful those front yards may still exist.

Are there special things to buy in your neighborhood? Are there homes, shops or restaurants that sell unusual food?

What makes your neighborhood extraordinary? How would it stand out compared to the other sections of the city?

If you heed help, a good guidebook that can navigate you around Manila is "Street-Bound" by Josefina Manahan, published by Anvil Publishing.

Manahan lists various types of walks around Manila that allow people to appreciate nature (yes, there still is some of it in the city), history, culture, and of course, non-mall shopping.

All of Manahan's walks take you through Manila, bringing out the pulse of the city that can never be duplicated in any of the malls.

Walking tour guides

If you would rather be walked around the city, then contact either Ivan ManDy at oldmanilawalks@gmail.com or Carlos Celdran. Both do walking tours.

Ivan calls himself a Streetwalker. He takes people on walks through Tsinoy Binondo in central Manila.

He has another walk at the Chinese Cemetery showing that the cemetery is probably the city's most comprehensive architectural museum and also the honor the Chinese community accords its ancestors.

Tsinoy culture comes to life when he does unforgettable food walks through the kitchens of Binondo for a memorable encounter with the Chinese culture of taste.

Carlos Celdran presents his own take on Manila, sometimes irreverent, but always humorous and engaging.

When he tackles the CCP Complex, he brings out the Marcos mania for iconic architecture. He walks you through Intramuros, develops nostalgia for bygone days while doing a reality check on the ilustrado lifestyle.

I really don't know who can walk people through Cebu, Vigan, Iloilo and other places outside of Manila. I am sure that those people exist and ask them to drop me an e-mail.

When I find out who they are and after trying out their walks, then I will publish the contact information of the more interesting walkers.

E-mail the author at afvillalon@hotmail.com


Copyright 2006 Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[overtureph]

THIS IS WAY ABSURD, IMHO!!!! THEY CAN JUST TRANSFER! I mean, this is not an endangered rainforest!!!! The seedlings are not even planted in the area! They are planted in pots or separated land!!! The simplest thing that they can do is put the the seedlings in trucks and transfer to an area where Q.C. can provide it. I never thought I'll ever say this but I hope QC. will pull an Atienza on this.

KiBen: it's a good idea to find another place for this, if they really want to build a high rise condominium/or a commercial area.

I disagree with this for the simple reason of where does it stop? Where does it end? As we all know probably theres also the controversy at the Arroceros Forest Park. Our officials still seems to have an ediface complex and I guess the Filipinos love affair with concrete. We have already very few open spaces in the metropolis moreover, proper parks. Shall we all cover our open spaces in the name of progress? The metropolis is already polluted as it is. And we all know the benefits of having more trees. Besides, they say that the seedling bank is covered by a presidential decree. What happened to the rule of law? So again, shall we violate the law and sacrifice the few remaining spaces and the trees that we have just for a condominium project which could be built elsewhere?

[overtureph]

Museums of the faith, the power and the glory

First posted 09:37pm (Mla time) April 02, 2006
By Christian Esguerra
Inquirer



Editor's Note: Published on page D1 of the April 3, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

DESPITE BELONGING TO the majority religion in the country, Filipino Catholics are always hard-pressed to disabuse majority ignorance of their 2,000-year-old faith.

So how do you address the problem then?

The basic response, of course, is an aggressive catechism, one that relates, without necessarily oversimplifying, Church doctrines to the ordinary Filipino and his everyday life.

But even here, clergymen like Fr. Andrew Greeley find a vast area for improvement. In his book "The Making of the Pope 2005," the American sociologist-writer complains that a significant number of Catholics in his country ignore important Church teachings, say, on contracepcion.

In the Philippines, two Catholic institutions have come up with new ways to somehow re-energize the Catholic faith.

The Archdiocese of Manila has refurbished its museum into one more fit to its status as the entry point of organized Roman Catholicism in this part of the world.

University of Santo Tomas, established in 1611 through an endowment by Manila Archbishop Miguel de Benavidez who died in 1605, has mounted a quiet exhibit packaged to introduce its rectors (or, in modern language, university presidents) to the public at large, emphasizing the historic importance of the UST rectorship to the Church and nation as well as the cultural patrimony fostered by that institution.

It isn't quite easy to immediately establish the relevance of both activities, even to Catholics, in this debilitating age of Ragnarok, Counterstrike and Pinoy Big Brother. For who would prefer to see a cement bust of Felix Huertas or a rectorial medal over a riotous online game?

'Living Canopy'

But people like Fr. Gabriel Casal, director of the Manila archdiocesan museum, isn't losing hope. Instead of sulking from the steady stream of modern-day frivolities, he's picked up a convenient technology to generate appeal for his priceless artifacts.

He's come up with an interactive CD containing the history and development of the archdiocese, including paintings, busts, markers, capes, carvings and other artifacts on display at the museum. He says the CD, "Living Canopy," is so long that it'll take about five hours for a straight viewing.

It's now available for public viewing following the museum's renovation recently. The museum is on the 3/F, Arzobispado de Manila, Intramuros.

But while CDs can help bridge the generation gap, they're still no match to appreciating history, in this case, of the religious kind, by staring at the actual artifact.

Just a few steps of the entrance is the original historical marker of the seventh Manila Cathedral that stood from 1879 to 1945. The three bullet holes speak of the ill fate of what was once a majestic structure.

Adjacent to the marker are three giant molave carvings of Saints John, Peter and Paul. They used to flank the three arches of the lower faćade of the wartime cathedral before bombs dropped them to earth.

Occupying an entire wall of the small museum is a Carlos "Botong" Francisco depiction of Jesus Christ ascending to the heavens. There's also a glass showcase displaying works by Msgr. Josè Abriol, who single-handedly translated into Filipino the Old and New Testaments, Sacramentary, Lectionary and other religious books.

The archdiocesan museum, of course, won't be complete without an exhibit on Jaime Cardinal Sin and the colorful archbishops who came before him. You'll find an old desk and typewriter of Rufino Cardinal Santos and the already-brittle cape of Bernardino Nozaleda, the last Spanish archbishop of Manila.

"It's a humble collection," Casal tells the Inquirer, explaining that other important artifacts pertaining to the history of the archdiocese were kept in more elaborate ecclesiastical museums such as that of nearby San Agustin Church.

UST Museum

Others are with the safekeeping of the UST Museum of Arts and Sciences, the oldest museum in the country.

The school did an experiment of sorts by mounting an exhibit on its rectors recently.

Some might dismiss it as the school's vanity, but organizers believe there was value in introducing and explaining the role of the UST rector to Filipinos who have a short memory.

The institution of the UST rector, after all, is not without historical importance. UST is the oldest Western-style university in Asia. During the Spanish colonial era, it functioned as a bureau of education, with the UST rector having supervisory rights over all schools in the islands.

The importance of the UST rectorship in the history of higher education in the country cannot be discounted. As veritable secretary of education, the rector sat in academic tribunals to determine the fitness of a candidate for an academic degree.

One can visualize the UST rector, a Dominican scholar trained in the true scholastic and Thomistic tradition, frowning on a candidate's answer in a tribunal, waving aside the answer, and pronouncing "Non" on whether or not to grant him the degree. The first Filipino ilustrados such as Fr. Josè Burgos, Apolinario Mabini and Felipe Agoncillo underwent grilling by the academic tribunal headed by the UST rector.

The incumbent rector, Fr. Tamerlane Lana, O.P., the school's 93rd rector, admitted that the position used to be "clothed with mystery" and was once seen as the "invisible power" in the university, next only to God. "A medieval concept," he says.

As in papal succession, moving from one rector to another requires a solemn and elaborate ceremony not alien to pure Vatican tradition. (In fact, it is the Vatican that appoints the UST rector as the school is a pontifical university, the only one of 13 in the world with that title.)

In the exhibit were the silver maces (c. 17th-18th century) and the rectorial gown and medallion, all symbolizing the authority of the rector. The passage of those symbols from one rector to another signifies the sophisticated transfer of academic authority.

The heart of the exhibit were the huge paintings of some of the 93 rectors, done by the likes of Fernando Amorsolo, Alfredo Esquillo, Rafael del Casal, Ronald Ventura and Wenceslao Garcia. Garcia painted the first Filipino rector of UST, Leonardo Legaspi, O.P. (1971-77), who is now archbishop of Nueva Caceres.

Esquillo was a favorite of rectors, having been tapped to paint most of those on exhibit such as the portraits of Fr. Jesus Diaz (1965-70) and Fr. Rolando de la Rosa (1990-98).

A standout were Amorsolo's paintings of Fr. Serapio Tamayo (1926-36) and his successor, Fr. Silvestre Sancho, who was rector until 1944.


Copyright 2006 Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[ramvingar]

I disagree with this for the simple reason of where does it stop? Where does it end? As we all know probably theres also the controversy at the Arroceros Forest Park. Our officials still seems to have an ediface complex and I guess the Filipinos love affair with concrete. We have already very few open spaces in the metropolis moreover, proper parks. Shall we all cover our open spaces in the name of progress? The metropolis is already polluted as it is. And we all know the benefits of having more trees. Besides, they say that the seedling bank is covered by a presidential decree. What happened to the rule of law? So again, shall we violate the law and sacrifice the few remaining spaces and the trees that we have just for a condominium project which could be built elsewhere?

I totally agree. There are many other places where a condo can be built. Sadly, it is easier to build concrete/steel structures while it is harder to replace areas of greenery and trees. The metropolis is already lacking in green spaces as it is. We keep ranting about the pollution in Manila but are so ready to sacrifice the exact things that can help curb this pollution.

[Askal82]

And by the way, there are a couple of stray dogs in Intramuros which I believe is dangerous for tourists, students and passersby...

http://img432.imageshack.us/img432/5282/dogs0bl.jpg
Rabbies galore...

Is that my relative? :D

[JAMAICUS]

I disagree with this for the simple reason of where does it stop? Where does it end? As we all know probably theres also the controversy at the Arroceros Forest Park. Our officials still seems to have an ediface complex and I guess the Filipinos love affair with concrete. We have already very few open spaces in the metropolis moreover, proper parks. Shall we all cover our open spaces in the name of progress? The metropolis is already polluted as it is. And we all know the benefits of having more trees. Besides, they say that the seedling bank is covered by a presidential decree. What happened to the rule of law? So again, shall we violate the law and sacrifice the few remaining spaces and the trees that we have just for a condominium project which could be built elsewhere?

May I repeat, there are no trees in there. Only few trees which probably dates back before the Seedling bank. The seedling bank does not contribute in directly reducing pollution(tree seedliings, not trees).And, I do believe in the law of progress of filling up more spaces.Yes, we must save as many spaces as we can in Manila yet the North Triangle area is a special area that can provide jobs when commercialized due to the Metro's unemployment rate. It is not just an open area, it is a strategical area due to its closeness to the Manila-province border.Yet, as a young person this is my opinion and I respect yours(Being a Q.C. progress supporter, see Q.C. thread). Also, you were talking about the law. May you please explain this, said in the article :
Endriga dismissed PD 1197 exempting the foundation from tax duties, saying it had been nullified by more recent laws, among them the Local Government Code, that declares any commercial-use property taxable.

:cheers:

[overtureph]

^^ Is Endriga a lawyer? (I'm not a lawyer either) His statement is quite general. What provisions in the more recent laws and in the local government code supersedes or in effect repeals the presidential decree?

We all know the importance of the seedling bank. Try to look more into the substance of the matter. Don't get me wrong because I respect your opinion on this matter. Even if its different from mine.

[overtureph]

Pocket parks
CITY SENSE By Paulo Alcazaren
The Philippine STAR 04/01/2006

One of the major deficiencies of our metropolis is the lack of open green space. Urban development here has been so uncontrolled that every bit of real estate is built on or concreted over for parking. Very little opportunity exists for courtyards, plazas, and much less public parks. There are, however, opportunities for little pockets of open and sometimes green space in dense cities like ours. Other cities like New York, San Francisco, Hong Kong and Singapore have learned to appropriate little corners of their city for amazingly refreshing little "pocket parks."

Today let me show you two such pocket parks in the center of sunny Singapore. The central business district in the island nation is adjacent to the Chinatown section of the city. The old shophouses that contained both places of business as well as residences on the upper floors gave way to skyscrapers and mega structures. Prime land was next to the Singapore River while a little further away, in Chinatown itself, much remained the same in terms architecture. The 1980s brought in a sense of cultural heritage that thankfully stopped the demolition of this historic section of the city.

The continuing evolution of the larger area into a modern CBD (central business district) displaced any open space save for the central square called Raffles Place. Under an Urban Redevelopment Authority framework, the Singapore Tourism Board decided that the adjacent Chinatown district provided a chance to create "pockets" of open green space that could soften the harsh urban landscape as well as make the already pedestrian-friendly streets of Singapore even friendlier to locals and tourists alike.

Two locations provided the opportunities for these–Telok Ayer and Ann Siang Hill. Telok Ayer was an empty lot of 700 square meters in the middle of a city block. Not far away was a slope on what was called Ann Siang Hill that bridged the gap between two sections of Chinatown.

Telok Ayer Park was between two heritage structures–a Hindu and a Chinese temple. Both were still used and both were key tourist spots in the city (both conserved and well maintained). The park was to provide seating areas for travelers as well as locals working in offices nearby. The park also served as a pedestrian connector between two busy streets. The landscape architecture was to respect the two temples as well as provide shade and interest to passersby.

The landscape architect/urban designer provided a free-flowing path finished with granite and edged with lush buffer planting that camouflaged the walls of both temples. Seats with trellises that mimicked boat frames (the area was actually part of the old harbor) lined this path. A larger open area at the back allowed for a decorative pond and a mini-waterfall that generated sounds of trickling water good for masking traffic noise.

For reference to the place’s history, three sculptural vignettes were installed. Each reflect a historic function or tradition of the area. There is a sculpture of a lighter (that ferried produce from ships to the quays), a lantern festival group (a seasonal Chinese celebration) and a group of merchants trading. Each was cast in bronze and is life-size. Historical markers provide a written narrative that embellishes the experience for tourists and locals alike.

Continuing just on your trek just over a hundred meters away is the Ann Siang Hill Park. The park is actually another pedestrian connector carved out of previously useless space on a slope between two sides of Chinatown. The designer made good use of the slope to create a grand covered staircase (actually two–one being a spiral staircase and even more delightful is the wooden terrace or deck, which is very popular in the evenings for restaurants nearby).

As with the Telok Ayer Park, this park also has historical significance which provides a sense of place. A historic well (the first in the area) from the 19th century was rebuilt and provided with a historic marker. On the upper level, references to the shophouses used as clan centers for immigrant Chinese provide color to the district. The landscape features frame views of the modern city while providing resting places (there is even a seat swing) for passersby and patrons of nearby establishments.

Telok Ayer Park and Ann Siang Hill are both well lit at night. During the day heavy pedestrian traffic passes through both because MRT stations are accessed through. Foreign tourists also find them as welcome shortcuts between the shiny new CBD towers and the more historic sections of the city. Shade from full-grown trees abound and color from shrubs and well-maintained planting beds create delightful settings to enjoy the city.

Pocket parks can and do provide needed relief for urbanites in the middle of dense cities. Larger city and suburban parks are still needed as "lungs" for the city and to provide recreational opportunities for city dwellers. The psychological benefits of green open space have been proven to reduce stress and encourage leisure activities. That’s why the Singapore government provided parks and open spaces on the same priority as housing, education and support for business. To them parks are not out-of-pocket expenses but necessary investments to ensure healthy citizens and delighted tourists.
* * *
Next week–more pocket parks, one in New York and another in our very own Ortigas Center.

Feedback is welcome. Please e-mail the writer at paulo.alcazaren@gmail.com.

[JAMAICUS]

^^ Yes, I respect your opinion.Yet, change is inevitable.Our population will grow. Anyway, FOR THOSE WHO DON'T KNOW, WE ARE CAMPAIGNING TO SAVE INTRAMUROS FROM INFORMAL SETTLERS AND DETERIORATION. PLEASE GO TO : http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=7868025#post7868025

[ark]

sorry to say but most Filipinos have no respect for their heritage. we are always astonished by the beautiful parks and old architecture of european cities, of boston, of Shanghai, Macau, but we take for granted our very own heritage. :runaway:

[daDJ]

tsk tsk sad but true

[daDJ]

How can we aim and attain a brighter, prosperous and lofty future when we disregard the greatness of our past?

[ishtefh_03]

@kuya jeff- i texted the number you gave here and nag reply na di daw sya taga HCS, baka mali poh ung nalagay nyo poh dito... and i'm really planning of organizing a chapter in UST, i already have a copy of the procedures on how to be accredited and my sample constitution included... pero minsan naisip ko kung gagawin ko ba?? masyadong matrabaho talaga eh...

[Wonderboy]

Is that my relative? :D

He he...Askal, perhaps you could request your relative to hang out elsewhere. :)

Steph, I will post again the contact details of HCS. My apologies for the error and thanks for your support. I salute you for that. :)

[Wonderboy]

The seedling bank does not contribute in directly reducing pollution (tree seedliings, not trees).

Ahhh...without the seedlings, no trees right? :)

[JAMAICUS]

^^ That is why not directly. When truly planted, it is now directly helping.

[Wonderboy]

^^ That is why not directly. When truly planted, it is now directly helping.

No offense Jamaicus and I do respect your opinion. However, I believe that even if the seedling bank is "only" donating seedlings, that alone is already a big contribution.

[JAMAICUS]

^^ I'm not saying that the seedling should be abolished. They can transfer.

[overtureph]

Lost, crumbling, disappearing historic landmarks in Manila

First posted 01:58am (Mla time) Mar 29, 2006
Inquirer



Editor's Note: Published on Page A16 of the March 29, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

IT PAINS me to see beautiful, and even historic, places in Manila falling into ruin little by little or disappearing.

For example, the University of Santo Tomas (UST) campus has lost its beauty. The university itself seems to have lost its sense of history. The small UST press building, one of the oldest buildings in the Philippines, is nowhere to be seen. Years back, the main building was very visible, making for a commanding presence. There was nothing to distract one’s view of it. Not anymore, with the campus itself playing host to a slew of commercial establishments.

This, after we have lost the Jai-Alai building on Taft Avenue. I thought that after it was demolished, in its place would immediately rise the proposed Hall of Justice. That was years ago.

Mehan Garden is also nowhere to be seen now. In its place is a parking area. I thought the Metropolitan Theatre would soon be restored. There’s a billboard that says so. When will this renovation take place? The building
is crumbling.

I hope the concerned government official(s) will finally give historical landmarks serious attention.

DANTE C. ARGAÑOZA, B12 L5 Galilee St., North Olympus, Zabarte, Novaliches, Quezon City

http://news.inq7.net/opinion/index.php?index=1&story_id=70891

[lewdsaint]

Iloilo is truly a Heritage Champion.....

Macavinta House
Text by Atty. Helen J. Camarista
Photos by A.Chris Fernandez

http://www.thenewstoday.info/2006/04/05/macavinta1.jpg
The Macavinta House is one of the three houses given citation by the Iloilo City Heritage Conservation Council (ICCHC) for preserving its historical significance of its architecture and also for observing the ICCHC guidelines in conservation and preservation. (Reprinted from Iloilo Yearbook 2005)

It looks like a modified European Castle amidst modern edifices facing Gen. Hughes St., Iloilo City.

http://www.thenewstoday.info/2006/04/05/macavinta2.jpg

In 1945, after World War II, the Ferraris Family bought the lot and built the house on it. The year after, the same family sold the house to a certain Mrs. Mirasol who commissioned architect Luis Dichupa to do some renovations on it.

It was in 1977 when Esperanza Mirasol and husband Pedro Macavinta acquired the rights from the other Mirasol siblings and, with sons Howard and Glenn, made the house the family residence. The second floor was then leased by and housed the offices of the Bureau of Forestry and Office of Civil Defense.

http://www.thenewstoday.info/2006/04/05/macavinta5.jpg

In 1994, the Macavinta Family leased the first floor of the house to the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics. From 1995 to 2002, the house was vacant but it was maintained by the family to keep it in good condition.

In 2003, entrepreneur Louise Jardeleza-Cordova and son Miguel leased and transformed the Macavinta House into Afrique’s Restaurant, its length of stay thereat only time can tell.

(from The News Today Info
link: http://www.thenewstoday.info/2006/04/05/macavinta.house.html)

[Wonderboy]

I had the opportunity to talk to Ms. Bambi Harper last night during the launch/ round table discussion of Dr. Zialcita's latest book "Authentic Though Not Exotic: Essays on Filipino Identity" at the Instituto Cervantes and she gave me the weblink for the Filipino Heritage Festival this coming May 2006:

http://filheritagefest.fateback.com

http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/6528/header27ou.png

http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/5335/officers4ve.png

Filipino Heritage Festival, Inc. Concept

A month-long celebration of tangible and intangible Filipino Heritage presented through cultural events deliberately utilizing heritage sites throughout the country as venues. It is a joint project of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and the private sector represented by Filipino Heritage Festival Inc.

Objectives

1. To raise the consciousness of the average Filipino of the existence of these marvelous man-made as well as natural landmarks and the need to cherish and preserve them.
2. To establish a cultural heritage fund through donations from the private sector.
3. To institutionalize and foster the month of May as the National Heritage Month.
4. To animate and focus attention on Filipino Cultural Heritage through various cultural events that will encompass, address and include the different tiers of the society.
5. To act as a unifying force in the society through the use of heritage.

Project Descrption

Filipino Heritage Festival is a yearly month-long celebration centered on heritage. It features performances, visual arts, exhibits, thematic culinary events and other activities emphasizing traditions and customs performed on the heritage sites.

-------

The Filipino Heritage Month is conceived as a fun-filled, month-long nationwide festival highlighting cultural heritage sites by making use of them as venues for cultural activities.

It is one of the aims of the celebration to embrace as many fields and facets of our culture in order to address as many sectors as possible.

"Heritage Month 2006 - Revival of Zarzuela" marks the 4th time this national event that aims to raise national consciousness concerning heritage takes place. It opens in Paoay April 29 and closes in Iloilo on May 20-31. In between are exhibits held in various provinces such as Nueva Ecija and Albay on the 26 colonial lighthouses, Landmark Sites, Architecture, Antiques as well as textile exhibits.

The Iloilo celebration marks a first in that the province joins the national festival by holding events throughout the month starting the 1st of May.

Heritage Month Schedule of Activities

April 6
Thurs.
Press Conference
Intercontinental Hotel

April 29-May1
Sat. to Mon.
Opening (Paoay, Ilocos Norte)
Plaza

May 3
Wed.
Opening Textile Exhibit
Rustans Makati

May 4, 11, 18, 25
every Thurs.
Food festival etc.
hotels

May 5
Fri
Zarzuela Opening *
CCP Little Theater/FEU

May 6
Sat (for First Sunday of May)
Flores de Mayo *
Rajah Solayman

May 7
Sun
Parangal sa Alagad ng Sining
CCP front lawn

May 9
Tues
Noon at Ngayon Photo Contest/Exhibit
Filipinas Heritage Lib.

May 10-17
Wed
National Artist Exhibit
Rockwell

May 12
Fri
Parian
Binondo/Parian

May 13
Wed
Zarsuela
Marikina

May 13
Sat
Laguna / Study Tour

May 15
Mon
Photo Exhibit of church ceiling paintings

May 16
Tues
Zarzuela
AFP Theater

May 17
Wed
Stamp Launch (Lighthouses)
Ayala Museum / Post Office

May 18
Thurs
Balagtasan with National Artists

May 19
Fri
National Artist Exhibit
Rockwell

May 19
Fri
Davao

May 20
Sat
Fashion Show
“Moda Marikina”
Marikina

May 20
Sat
Bangsa Moro Photo Exhibit

May 22
Mon
Makati

May 23
Tues
Bangsa Moro wares exhibit

May 25
Thurs
Lighthouse exhibit
Robinsons

May 27
Sat
Pampanga

May 28
Mon
Flag Day

May 28-29
Mon & Tues
Closing Bacolod
Victorias

May 30 & 31
Wed & Thurs
Closing - Iloilo

For more information on the schedule of activities, below is the contact information of Filipino Hertiage Festival:

Filipino Heritage Festival Inc.
UG-03 Cityland 10 Tower 2
154 H.V. Dela Costa St.,
Makati City, Philippines
Tel. No. (632) 892 58 65
Website: http://filheritagefest.fateback.com
E-mail: heritagemonth@yahoo.com

Your participation on the activities will be highly appreciated!

[Wonderboy]

@kuya jeff- i texted the number you gave here and nag reply na di daw sya taga HCS, baka mali poh ung nalagay nyo poh dito... and i'm really planning of organizing a chapter in UST, i already have a copy of the procedures on how to be accredited and my sample constitution included... pero minsan naisip ko kung gagawin ko ba?? masyadong matrabaho talaga eh...

Hello Steph,

My apologies for the delayed repsonse to your concern. I checked the telephone number of HCS that I provided on the first posting on this thread and indeed, I got the numbers mixed up! My bad. Anyhow, below is the correct contact information:

Heritage Conservation Society

Telephone numbers: 5212239/ 5222497
Mobile number: 09178668853
Contact person: Ms. Dorie Soriano

Please let me know if you were able to get in touch with Ms. Dorie. :)

I also had the same concern while I was just starting my advocacy work at HCS. Volunteerism is sometimes tedious but I was determined to help out no matter what happens. You may ask for assistance from your professors or friends who also share your passion in preserving our heritage.

Ngayon pa lang, saludo na ako sa'yo. :) "Things are always hard before they are easy" (please ignore the weird sentence construction as I am quoting verbatim a long lost book which I already forgot the title. Nevertheless, I believe that that saying makes sense. :) )

[Wonderboy]

Iloilo is truly a Heritage Champion.....

This is true Lewdsaint, I heard there's even one particular street in Iloilo that has been declared as a heritage communiy by the city mayor.

[lewdsaint]

Wonderboy, This is the Calle Real (Royal Street) of Iloilo City

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3423/1224/400/calle_real_jm_basa_iloilo3.0.jpg

Calle Real is the old name of the Iznart and J.M. Basa Streets, which is lined by businesses owned mostly by Filipino-Chinese traders. The street boasts of buildings that date back during the Spanish and American colonial periods.

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3423/1224/1600/basajm.jpg

Calle Real was also known as the “Escolta of Iloilo”. It was the site of most of the city's European, Chinese and American retail stores, with property values markedly high along it.

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3423/1224/400/calle_real_jm_basa_iloilo.0.jpg

J.M. Basa is a shopping and business district of the city. Here you can find a wide array of products distinct from what you find in malls which are a lot cheaper and more reflective of Ilonggo culture.

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3423/1224/400/calle_real_jm_basa_iloilo2.0.jpg


This is true Lewdsaint, I heard there's even one particular street in Iloilo that has been declared as a heritage communiy by the city mayor.

[lewdsaint]

Chinese Ilonggos embrace heritage
By Ma. Diosa Labiste
Philippine Daily Inquirer


MARIVIC Parcon was raised well by her Chinese parents who tried to acquaint her with the many facets of Chinese culture, including its work ethic.

Every weekend, she helped out in the grocery run by her parents to earn her allowance in elementary and high school.

Parcon now teaches Chinese languages at the Iloilo Chinese Commercial High School (ICCHS) in Iloilo City. These days, she says Chinese Ilonggo parents are more lenient.

Instead of making their children tend shops, parents encourage them to excel in school, compete in academics and athletics, and become successful in their careers.

Parcon named a few famous alumni of the ICCHS-entrepreneur and recording artist Jose Mari Chan and basketball stars Yves Dignadice and James Yap, more famous as the boyfriend of Kris Aquino.

Other successful alumni may not be in the spotlight but are working in government, banks, hospitals, churches and schools in the country and elsewhere.

While of Chinese descent, they proudly say they are Filipinos or Chinoys (Chinong Pinoy or Chinese Filipinos), or even Chinese Ilonggos because they knew no other home than Iloilo.

During the Jan. 31 fourth Chinese New Year celebration in Iloilo City, the Chinese Ilonggos' history, culture and contribution were feted anew. This year, Iloilo ceased to claim to have the only public celebration of the Chinese New Year outside Metro Manila.

Other cities, such as Cebu and Bacolod, have been holding theirs since 2003.

As in previous years, the schools have taken the lead in ushering in the Year of the Fire Dog. They are the ICCHS, Ateneo de Iloilo/Sta. Maria Catholic School, Sun Yat Sen High School, and the Colegio de Sagrado Corazon de Jesus.

Dance history

The ICCHS performed in dances a history of the Qin Dynasty in 221 BC that became a turning point in Chinese history. The dynasty unified the warring states, standardized writing, language and currency, and built the Great Wall of China.

Another dance presentation portrayed the Terra Cotta Warriors, or the famous 6,000 clay soldiers found in a burial site in China.

Carmen Santos, principal of the ICCHS, said the presentation would remind Chinese Ilonggos of their legacy and help teach Chinese history to Filipinos.

"There are lessons to be learned from the history of China that can be applied today," said Philippe John Sopacio, who researched and wrote the dance theater.

While the history of China is well-recorded and easily retrieved from books and chronicles, little has been written about the Chinese Ilonggo history that can be shared or put into dance.

Santos and Sopacio said local Chinese Ilonggo historians must piece together accounts, documents and life stories on how the Chinese came to Iloilo and why they stayed. Some local historians have written about Chinese Ilonggos but not extensively.

Archeological records showed that trading between Iloilo and the Chinese started between 960 AD and 1279 but Chinese settlers did not arrive until the Spaniards had colonized Iloilo in the 16th century. A Spanish royal decree issued on July 17, 1679 established a parian, or Chinese district in Iloilo City, on what is now Avancena Street in Molo
District.


Chinatown

Pieces of evidence of Chinese influence abound in the city's economy and these are found in the streets of J.M. Basa, Iznart and Aldeguer that form a triangle. The area is the central business district and the unofficial Chinatown.

But Chinese Ilonggo business leaders, led by Felipe Uygongco, said instead of calling it Chinatown, they want the place declared Chinese Filipino Cultural Center.

Long before malls and air-conditioned shopping enclaves appeared, the central business district was the busiest and liveliest shopping area in the city. By giving it a place in the Chinese Ilonggo history, it could be saved from becoming a retail slum.

Bazaars, small shops, hardware stores and restaurants flank both sides of the streets. Many of these are owned by Chinese Ilonggos who weathered the competition from malls, ironically owned also by Chinese Filipinos, by selling goods at lower prices.

One of the popular shops is Botica China, a drugstore that has antique wooden shelves and a metal scale used for weighing Chinese drugs. It has glass counters displaying cough syrups, candies and treats, slimming teas, whitening facial creams and powders, and aphrodisiacs.

Its owner, who begged anonymity, said the drugstore was a family business before she was born. While Chinese medicines are not a hit, the store, like many others in the area, survives because of loyal customers and buyers looking for alternative medicines.

"Discipline, hard work, and a will to serve made us what we are today," said Parcon. "These traits are Chinese but they are also Filipino."

[lewdsaint]

Bridging the Gap
By Henry F. Funtecha

Institutional services available in Iloilo City, 1930s

Iloilo, being considered as the 'Queen of the City of the South' in the first half of the 20th century, was the premier commercial center and entertainment capital of the Philippines outside of Manila in the 1930s. To it flocked not only farmers and merchants from the interior towns of the province and of the neighboring provinces of Aklan, Antique and Capiz, but also hacienderos and sacadas, especially from Negros Occidental. They visited Iloilo to sell their products, buy consumer goods, purchase machinery and equipment, negotiate crop loans with banks, check on prices of sugar and other products, and avail of the services that the city had to offer.

To cater to the discriminating taste of the hacienderos and the emerging middle class in the region, there were a number of tailoring shops in Iloilo City. They were the De Luxe Fashion, that also offered dry cleaning services; the ABC Gents' Tailoring in Iznart St. owned by Peyo Chen; the American Bazaar; and the De Luxe Haberdashery Co., Inc. The last two were found in J.M. Basa St.

For one's photographic needs, a number of photo studios could be found in the city, among them: Casanave Art Studio in Corner Sto. Nino-J.M. Basa Sts., Visayan Studio in Iznart St., owned by a certain H. Niinoto; and, The Nolasco D'Art Studio, Photo-engraving services were offered by the Joaquin Reyes and Co., Inc. at J.M. Basa St.

Iloilo was also one of the earliest cities in the Philippines to show first-run Hollywood movies to entertain patrons from all walks of life. Palace and Roxy Theaters were the homes of Metro Goldwyn Mayer, United Artist, Colombia,and Fox Quality Pictures. Eagle and Lyric movie houses were identified with Paramount, Universal, Warner Brothers, and First National Pictures.

For those who were fond of dancing, there were a number of nightclubs in the city. Gambling houses were also available who were inclined to this particular pastime.

For the moneyed ones who wanted to have a made-to-order jewelry, there were jewelry shops such as the Juan de Salvador Joyeria y Agencia de Empeños, Pablo Dulalia Joyeria y Casa de Empeños, and Hechanova and Co., Inc., all located at J.M. Basa St.

Printing and bookbinding needs could be done by La Editorial and by the Imprenta La Defensa in Rizal St., the latter owned by Marcos Villalon. Insurances can be secured from Sucesores de J. Reguera and Sorox.

There were also a umber of hotels and restaurants in Iloilo City. Among them were Central Hotel and Plaza Lunch, the latter served both as a lodging house and a restaurant.

A barber shop, 'The Modern Barber Shop', owned by Patricio Kabasaan, was operating in J.M. Basa St.

For electrical and refrigeration needs, there was Alpha Electrical and Refrigeration Service near Plaza Libertad.

[Josepepe]

I sometimes dont understand why there should even be a place called Chinatown separate from the rest of the native Austronesians. I dont see a need for it at this time and age. If retaining a name for historical purposes is necessary then let us retain the original which is Parian. Chinese is too foreign to my ears.

The Sangleys were merchants of Chinese descent during the Spanish period. They were given permission by decree to do commerce in a given area. The native Austronesians were mostly farmers, fishermen, sailors or soldiers who did not engage in large scale trading of goods at that time. Also, the Chinese or Sangleys were absorbed into the mainstream of Filipino life when they too along with the natives were hispanized. One of my ancestors was one such Hispanized Sangley.

Hard work, discipline and willing to serve are also virtues of the native Austronesians. It is not the monopoly of the Chinese. But they use it to serve under their own nations with their own leadership before the Spanish arrived and formed a State we now call the Philippines.

This is markedly different from the Chinese immigrants of today from China, Taiwan or Hongkong whom I feel only wants to exploit the Philippines.

What's more important is to emphasize the contribution of 1% of the population whose ancestors are of Chinese descent by being part of the Filipino umbrella.

The hispanized names of the Chinese or Sangleys are no longer foreign. This is what must be stressed instead of implying a separate nation out of the mainstream. This kind of approach is elitist. And dangerous.

We are all Filipinos not because we are all the same but because our shared cultural heritage of hispanicity from different backgrounds brought our ancestors together to form a country called the Philippines.

josepepe

[overtureph]

Mayors study plan to build new terraces in Ifugao

First posted 03:23am (Mla time) April 06, 2006
By Vincent Cabreza
Inquirer



Editor's Note: Published on Page A16 of the April 6, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

BAGUIO CITY—Mayors of towns that host some of the world’s centuries-old rice terraces are exploring the possibility of developing new terraces using the ancient mountain irrigation technology of Ifugao.

Kiangan Mayor Albert Indunan said he proposed expanding the terraces because of a demand for bigger farm areas and to produce more tinawon, the indigenous rice variety that grows only on these terraces.

Indunan, in a press conference here on Wednesday, said he wanted mayors to consider the profitability of the ancient terraces now that the Ifugao provincial government has undertaken the task of restoring them.

President Macapagal-Arroyo relinquished the function of saving the terraces to Ifugao five years ago, to comply with demands of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco).

Unesco lists the Ifugao rice terraces among the world’s heritage sites.

Caretaker agency

One of the world body’s prescribed conditions is for the Philippine government to create a caretaker agency that would oversee the rehabilitation of the terraces.

But Ms Arroyo abolished the Banaue Rice Terraces Task Force due to a government streamlining policy, and devolved the task to the provincial government.

Ifugao is no longer following a strict timeline imposed by Unesco and two defunct agencies that drew up the master plan for the terraces’ revival, Indunan said.

“We do not buckle down to pressure. What concerns us is that we can feed our people without [the government expecting us] to toil on the terraces forever,” he said.

Indunan said the municipalities of Ifugao were more inclined to provide employment and livelihood opportunities to their people.

Despite their tourist drawing power, the Ifugao terraces have not boosted the local economy, due in part to the absence of investments and infrastructure, according to the Cordillera Regional Development Council.

Tourism

Banaue, for example, relies on tourism but it can only offer hostels to most foreign tourists, apart from the Philippine Tourism Authority’s Banaue Hotel.

Indunan said he was still frustrated by the slow pace of promoting the terraces’ restoration among the young Ifugao.

However, the mayor said local government units had already drawn up ordinances or land use policies designed to protect the terraces.

In his town, Indunan said barangay councils had already passed resolutions prohibiting residents from building cemeteries on terrace slopes.

The resolutions also prescribe the number of houses that can be built on top of the terraces.

The rice terraces are clan-owned and have been indigenous family resources for centuries despite the absence of modern land titles.

Copyright 2006 Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[overtureph]

2 new species -- parrot, mouse -- found in Camiguin

First posted 06:01am (Mla time) April 07, 2006
Inquirer



Editor's Note: Published on page A1 of the Apr. 7, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

TWO NEW SPECIES have been found in the Philippines, one of the world's biodiversity hot spots facing environmental degradation and deforestation.

A brightly plumaged parrot and a long-tailed forest mouse unique to the country have been discovered in the vanishing rain forest of Camiguin Island, US-based researchers said yesterday.

Camiguin, a volcanic island in northern Mindanao, is a treasure trove of fauna, and already had endemic species of rodents and frogs before the discovery of the rusty brown mouse and the green hanging parrot, known among locals as "Colasisi."

But Camiguin's wildlife is at risk from deforestation, warned researchers, writing in the April 5 issue "Fieldiana: Zoology," a peer-reviewed, scientific journal about biodiversity research published by the Chicago-based Field Museum of Natural History.

"Knowing that at least 54 species of birds and at least 24 species of mammals live on Camiguin and that some of these animals are found nowhere else on earth, makes us realize how important this island is," said Lawrence Heaney, curator of mammals at the Field Museum and coauthor of several of the reports in the publication.

"For these animals to survive, we've got to save the dwindling forests where they live," he said in a press release issued by the museum.

Severely deforested

Blas Tabaranza Jr., director of the Terrestrial Ecosystems Project of the Haribon Foundation in Manila, said the Philippines was increasingly recognized as a global center for biodiversity, with exceptionally high levels of endemism or the state of being restricted to or peculiar to a locality or region.

"Unfortunately, the Philippines has also vaulted into notoriety as one of the most severely deforested tropical countries in the world," Tabaranza, a co-author of several of the Fieldiana reports, said in the press release.

The Philippines hosts a wealth of endemic flora and fauna but more than 70 percent of its original forests have been destroyed.

Camiguin was once almost entirely covered by rain forest but by 2001, logging, agriculture and human settlement had reduced the forest cover to only 18 percent. Half of the island, a popular diving destination, is covered with coconut plantations.

Conservation priority

The scientists have declared Camiguin's rain forest to be a key global conservation priority. Efforts to protect the remaining rain forest in which these animals live as a national park have been under way for several years, in collaboration between The Field Museum, Haribon Foundation, the local government and the Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

The two new species were discovered as the result of recent and earlier field studies.

The new species of parrot was known to locals because of its value in the pet trade. The bird's throat and thighs are bright blue and the top of its head and tail are brilliant scarlet-orange.

Males and females have identical plumage, which is quite unusual in this group of parrot.

The description is based on previously unstudied specimens in The Field Museum and the Delaware Museum of Natural History collected in the 1960s by D.S. Rabor. The name for the new species is Loriculus camiguinensis, or Camiguin Hanging-parrot.

Distinctive

"This description is based on a series of specimens that had been part of The Field Museum's collections for almost 40 years, so our work highlights the value of collecting and preserving scientific specimens, because you may not initially realize the significance of specimens," said John Bates, curator of birds and chair of zoology at The Field Museum, and a co-author of one of the Fieldiana reports.

"If we did not have a series of specimens from Camiguin and additional series of Hanging-parrots from other Philippine islands, we probably would have assumed that the single bird that prompted our investigation was just odd-looking, and we would not have been able to recognize it as distinctive," Bates said.

Overlooked

One of L. camiguinensis' characteristics that was key to identifying it as a new species is the fact that its plumage is relatively dull compared to other Philippine hanging-parrots.

This is consistent with the documented tendency of some isolated bird populations to lose their bright plumage, the authors noted.

Because L. camiguinensis has not been recognized as a separate species, little is known about its habits, and it has been overlooked in terms of conservation. The discovery has spurred interest in the field studies needed to establish the population size and requirements as a prerequisite for conservation planning and action.

After learning about the Fieldiana manuscript, Thomas Arndt, a German parrot enthusiast, made a trip to Camiguin to look for these birds. He photographed the parrots and was preparing a publication about his findings.

New even to locale

The mouse, discovered high on the steep slopes of one of the island's volcanoes, was new to locals.

The rusty-brown rodent, known as Apomys camiguinensis, has large eyes and ears and feeds mostly on insects and seeds.

The description is based on mice captured on Camiguin during a biological survey Heaney and Tabaranza conducted in 1994 and 1995.

In 2002, Heaney, Tabaranza and Eric Rickart, of the Utah Museum of Natural History, described a different species of forest-living rodent, Bullimus gamay, from Mt. Timpoong, the same mountain where the new mouse was collected.

A frog (Oreophryne nana) named in 1967 had been thought to be the only vertebrate restricted to the island prior to the surveys by Heaney and Tabaranza.

Deserves int'l attention

"Very few states in the United States, and few countries in Europe, have four endemic species of vertebrates, making it clear why tiny Camiguin Island is deserving of international attention," Heaney said.

"And it is almost certain that other organisms in Camiguin are also endemic; they just have not been studied yet."

Camiguin is only 265 square kilometers. It has been continuously isolated from its neighbors, even during the Ice Age of the Pleistocene, when sea levels dropped 120 meters below present levels. This isolation contributed to the differentiation of the island's animals. With a report from Inquirer wires


Copyright 2006 Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://news.inq7.net/thegoodnews/index.php?index=1&story_id=71952

[Animo]

Lopez Nauyac is an Ifugao CARVER who spent most of his adult life working as an art entrepreneur in the woodcarving village of Asin in Baguio City. Part of the great exodus of artisans who left Ifugao in the postwar years to take advantage of Baguio’s prosperous commerce in “tribal curiosities,” he realized in his old age that he had not given back anything of substance to the native society that was the wellspring of his talent and creativity. Today, after some 50 years as a manufacturer and seller of wood crafts, Nauyac is back in his home village of Hapao in Hungduan to pay back what he had taken. With the help of other villagers, he now works for the preservation of the muyong, communal forests that serve not only as watershed but also as source of wood for Hapao’s thriving industry in wood craft.

Nauyac’s village has also captured the attention of internationally known filmmaker Kidlat Tahimik who now spends half of his time in Hapao as a matter of personal choice. Dictated partly by disenchantment with the commodified culture of urban spaces, his move to Hapao was also prompted by a desire to document the rapidly changing ethos of Ifugao. But Kidlat Tahimik believes that documentation must not be the exclusive preserve of talented outsiders. Thus, he has been training the natives on how to use the video camera to express their world view and to record their culture. The completed films are for local consumption. Tahimik is trying to convince the public schools in Ifugao to show these films as an antidote to the insidious effects of Westernization.

The stories of Lopez Nauyac and Kidlat Tahimik illustrate present efforts to revitalize the traditional culture of Northern Luzon. The stories also suggest some of the symptoms of its malaise.

By general admission, the woodcarvers of Hapao are the best in the Cordillera. The Hapao bul-ul is widely recognized as the most distinctive of the anthropomorphic figures used in Ifugao rituals. Even the woodcarvings produced by village carvers for the tourist trade are better executed than most of the souvenir carvings found in curio shops. Woodcarving remains a primary occupation in Hapao, but the traditional forms are gradually disappearing. The growing Christianization of the people of Ifugao has led to the steady decline of traditional practices. With the disappearance of rituals, the production of the correlative ceremonial paraphernalia is brought to a halt. But the decline in the production of traditional wares is also brought about by Hapao’s integration into the world of commerce.

The production of bul-ul and other objects for ritual and domestic use has been largely superseded by the more lucrative production of carvings for souvenir-hunters and importers. Huge sculptures of American Indians, Mickey Mouse, and Laughing Buddhas are now being produced in great quantity, ensuring the survival of the woodcarving industry. On the other hand, there is cause for alarm as one contemplates the potentially disastrous effect of this commercialization on the aesthetic sensibility of the native carver who must now accommodate the judgment and preferences of outsiders.

The craft of Cordillera carvers is also being altered by a derivative aesthetic introduced by antique dealers and interior designers who commission works copied from pictures of African tribal sculpture—a case of commercially induced influence. Bul-ul iconography has not been spared of this influence. Shops in Manila, Baguio, and even Banawe are also selling African-inspired wooden boxes, lime containers, and miniature sculpture whose appeal lies in their refined style, as opposed to the so-called archaic style of authentic artifacts.

The introduction of new stylistic devices has its positive side, inspiring local craftsmen to explore other modes of artistic invention. On the other hand, there is something skewed when native carvers produce duplicates of artifacts from other cultures that do not have any bearing on their lives, seen for example in the copies of wooden fertility dolls (akua-ba) originally created by the Asante tribe of Ghana and now being manufactured in the woodcarving shops of Ifugao.

To a large extent Northern Luzon crafts are sustained by external demand, but very often not even this demand could ensure their survival. The manufacture of traditional Ilocos pots known as burnay is now a dying industry, according to some Vigan potters, with laborers in the potteries leaving the kilns and turning to white-collar jobs. Once an indispensable household item of domestic life in Northern Luzon, the burnay is now bought mostly by tourists, landscape designers, and interior decorators as local households turn to cheaper and more versatile plastic ware.

The decline of traditional crafts has led the Kalipunan ng mga Asosasyon para sa Ikauunlad ng Vigan at Kapaligiran (KaiVigan), organized in 1994, to come to the rescue. Plans are afoot for the purchase of an abandoned house in Vigan’s Heritage Village to serve not only as a tourist information center but also as a shelter for traditional crafts and industries. Support has also come from the Spanish government through the Agencia Española de Cooperacion Internacional. With its backing, the implementation of the Master Development Plan of Vigan, which includes the establishment of a cultural and trade center, has started.

Attempts to preserve and revitalize the traditional culture of Northern Luzon are being made in other areas in various ways. In Peñarubia, Abra, Dominga Agaid and other weavers have organized the Namarabar Farmers and Ethnic Arts Association to secure the old tradition of Tingguian weaves. Long-forgotten design motifs are being revived by village weavers, and organic dyes from local plants and trees are being used again. Similar efforts can be seen in Kalinga, Apayao, Mountain Province, and Ifugao where old textile traditions also exist.

Oral tradition is another area of concern. When the bearers of many of these traditions die, the folk forms are likely to die with them. For instance, Parompon Bahay of Bambang, Nueva Vizcaya, now in his late 70s, is said to be the only remaining chanter of the long alim of Ummangal and Bugan. Who will remember this ritual chant when he is gone? The process of transmission has been impeded by a new generation no longer interested in the ancient practices of their ancestors.

The documentation of vanishing lore in the region is, therefore, an urgent task. Usually the preserve of teachers who often write on folklore and its pedagogical value for their thesis requirement, documentation projects are being pursued by other groups. The University of the Philippines in Baguio has embarked on a project involving the retrieval of Cordillera and Northern Philippine literatures and the setting up of a comprehensive archive. KAISA, an organization of college students from Isabela, has included the collection and transcription of folklore in their province as part of their agenda.

There are other cultural preservation efforts worth citing. The United Architects of the Philippines has documented the history and refurbished the museum of an Ilocos Norte architectural landmark, the splendid Cape Bojeador Lighthouse in Burgos.

Even the festivals that have flourished in some major cities and capital towns (e.g., the Arya Abra! in Bangued and the Panagbenga Flower Festival in Baguio), despite their primarily tourist intentions and tendency to commercialize culture, have something to contribute to cultural growth. Paoay has revived the Guling-guling which dates back to Spanish times. In this pre-Lenten festival, the Ilocanos make merry as they reaffirm various aspects of their traditional culture, from religious rituals to native industries.

Sometimes the truly significant projects emanate from the most unlikely places, like the tinapa section of the Baguio City market where Mothers and Family Multi-Purpose Cooperative (Mofamco) holds quarters. An award-winning cooperative, Mofamco has organized a cultural guild dedicated to the preservation of traditional music in the Cordillera. Their first projects were recordings of Cordillera folk songs (Kullilipan) and instrumental music (Gangeh di Montanyosa). In 2001 they came out with Boltan (heritage), an anthology of music from Kalinga, Benguet, Ifugao, and Mountain Province. Here one gets an intimation of the continuity of tradition, as young people from each tribe join their elders in singing the chants.

The preservation of Cordillera indigenous culture has become a priority item in the national agenda, and the government has expectedly made significant interventions in this area of concern.

The conferment of the Gawad Manlilikha ng Bayan—equivalent of the National Artist Award—to Alonzo Saclag, a master of Kalinga dance, is a recognition that cannot be ignored. The government, through its cultural agencies, also worked hard to have the Ifugao hudhud chosen by the UNESCO as one of the “Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.” Intended to complement UNESCO’s World Heritage List of natural and cultural sites, this award was first given in 2001 to recognize “outstanding cultural spaces or forms of expression from the different regions of the world.”

The hudhud, an epic chant recited during the sowing and harvesting of rice and other important events, shared honors with cultural masterpieces from other countries like the Ivory Coast, Bolivia, China, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Benin, and Italy, which were recognized for their outstanding cultural value and role in perpetuating endangered traditions. To make the hudhud part of Filipino consciousness, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts has launched a playwriting competition based on the epic. The government also plans to have it included in school curricula and its variants collected in an archive.

The NCCA also had a role in the liya held in Hungduan in connection with the ordination of Pinatnaan Kiling as a new mumbaki (native priest). Pinatnaan did not have the wherewithal for the liya, a series of rituals involving the ritual slaughter of chickens and pigs, so the NCCA shouldered the expenses. It was not a minor gesture. Over the years the number of mumbaki has decreased because of the onslaught of modernization and Christianity in Ifugao. If the mumbaki disappear, the Ifugao will lose the primary carriers of their oral traditions, community laws, and genealogical lore.

The government, through the NCCA, the Presidential Commission for the New Century and the Millennium, and the National Museum, also initiated the Tuwali Ifugao Village project in Banaue. Consisting of some 15 traditional houses to be constructed on a one-hectare lot donated by the Limangan family, the proposed village aims to preserve Ifugao culture. It will feature a School for Living Traditions where traditional arts and crafts like woodcarving, backstrap weaving, rice wine brewing, metal smithing, and basket making will be taught.

A similar project is the Ifugao School of Living Traditions, established in Kiangan through the efforts of Ifugao Gov. Teodoro Baguilat Jr. who, in his inaugural speech, identified the establishment of Ifugao heritage centers as one of his major plans. The school opened in August 2001 with Manuel Dulawan as coordinator. Students are introduced to the rudiments of chanting, myth narrating, folk singing, gong playing and dancing, loom weaving, and rice wine brewing. The faculty includes Amado Dincog, 70, who teaches the chanting of the baltung, recited during prestige rites, and Angelina Dumayahon, 75, who teaches the hudhud.

The traditional arts and crafts of Northern Luzon and especially of the provinces that comprise the Cordillera region are repeatedly featured in mass media as exemplifying an authentic Philippine culture. There is usually a marked emphasis on the exoticism of this culture, determined no doubt by the ethnocentric gaze of the beholder who usually comes from the Christian and Westernized mainstream of Philippine society.

In 2001 two exhibits in Metro Manila focused on these arts and crafts. “Philippine Weaves” at the Galeria de las Islas in Intramuros featured traditional basketry and textiles from Northern Luzon. On a smaller scale, the Philippine Museum of Ethnology mounted an exhibit called “Bah-ket,” highlighting the traditional baskets of the Ifugao. As to be expected, the Intramuros exhibit was meant to draw attention to the craftsmanship involved in the construction of the exhibited artifacts.

The ethnology museum exhibit, on the other hand, was presumably intended to be a mode of instruction. Unfortunately, the guides at the Nayong Pilipino, where the museum is located, are apparently not well trained to conduct museum tours. At the Museum of Ethnology visitors were told that the Cordillera baskets on exhibit were black because the natives wanted them to be so, when as a matter of fact the dark patina of these baskets was not the outcome of aesthetic intention but the result of exposure to the accumulated soot in the enclosed shelters of the natives.

An even more egregious error was the remark, very casually made by a charming but incompetent guide, that mummification in the Cordillera begins with the dying person being soaked in saline solution.

Such misinformation tends to reinforce prejudices and widen the gap between mainstream and peripheral societies. Fortunately, there are regional museums to correct the errors. The Bontoc Museum, probably the pioneer museum in the Cordillera, is strategically situated to collect artifacts in situ and with them the vital pieces of information that would allow the visitor to make good sense of the material displayed.

Cordillera artifacts are also on exhibit at the museum of St. Louis University in Baguio where curator Ike Picpican can lecture, if requested, on Igorot material culture. A most noteworthy effort can be seen in the private museum set up in Banawe by George Schenk, an expatriate from Washington. Open to the public from December to March, it contains an outstanding collection of Cordillera sculpture, and the items on display are meticulously documented, with notes on their cultural context and provenance. In the Ilocos, easily the best museum is the Museo Iloko housed in the old and beautifully restored Tabacalera warehouse in Laoag.

Elsewhere in Northern Luzon, other academic institutions have established their own museums to document the material culture of the region where they are located. The Cagayan State University in Tuguegarao maintains a museum depicting the confluence of Ibanag and Ilocano cultures, while in Bangued, Abra, the Divine Word College has put up the Tingguian Studies Center with an adjunct museum showcasing local textiles, sculpture, and material implements. The absence of curatorial expertise and adequate funds has spoiled other regional projects. The Ilocano culture section of the Mariano Marcos State University museum in Batac, Ilocos Norte is in a state of neglect, its shabbiness accentuated by its proximity to the relatively well-kept and better endowed section housing the Ferdinand Marcos memorabilia.

Contemporary art production in the North is centered in the city of Baguio, long known for its community of homegrown and transplanted artists. In the past the energy was supplied mostly by the Baguio Artists Guild (BAG), with internationally known artists like Bencab, Santiago Bose, and Kidlat Tahimik providing the leadership and inspiration to a small but dedicated group of young talents. The BAG is moribund, if not dead, but new developments suggest that Baguio remains the art center of the North.

First, there are the art festivals and the smaller workshops they have spawned. In February 2001 “Hiblang Papel para sa Kapayapaan”—a month-long handmade paper festival featuring lecture-demonstrations, art exhibitions, and cultural shows—was held in Baguio with NCCA funding. Also in 2001 the UP Baguio Summer Arts Festival, now more than a decade old, continued to serve the community by offering some 30 art and crafts workshops for children and adults. The continuing success of this festival has inspired other groups in Baguio and La Trinidad, Benguet to conduct similar activities in summer.

Also providing impetus to creative work is the rise of new exhibition spaces. The Chanum Foundation, led by Bencab, has put up the Tam-awan Village, a cluster of huts featuring the vernacular architecture of the Cordillera, where the works of a group of artists associated with the village (Jordan Mangosan, Jojo Elmeda, Rishab, Roland Bay-an, Ged Alangui, Mark Tandoyog, John Frank Sabado, and others) are on permanent display.

Across Tam-awan is the studio-gallery of sculptor Ben-hur Villanueva. Iggy’s Inn, previously known for its cuisine, is also trying to establish a reputation as an art center. Local artists have also been given space in the Baguio Botanical Garden, where installation art seems to be the norm.

In Asin, known for its village of woodcarvers, a group led by Gilbert Albert, an Ifugao artist, maintains a gallery-workshop called Bobhle (Ifugao for village) where they exhibit their works in stone, bamboo, and other media. Also in Asin is KM 6, a studio and gallery put up by papermaker Nida Dumsang who envisions the place as a workshop for papermaking, creative bookbinding, and paper craft.

The most successful exhibition space, however, is the Sanctuary Gallery at Maryknoll. Established in 1999, the Sanctuary must be credited for professionalizing the gallery system in the city. Careful planning, attention to detail, and competent publicity work have ensured the success of its shows. In 2001 the gallery presented exhibits of handcrafted objects, book art, collage, pottery, and photographic environmental history, in addition to the usual painting and print shows. It has become a regular venue for local artists, but more important is its success in educating its public. The emphasis on the gallery as a learning center is evident in the scrupulous exhibit notes that explain and contextualize the objects on display.

The abundance of exhibition spaces in Baguio is surprising, given the fact that local galleries do not make money. But this could be changing. Sanctuary curator Erlyn Ruth Alcantara admits that the gallery is able to sustain itself with sales. There is a growing number of local buyers, she says. What is striking is the fact that most of them are not art patrons or collectors looking for blue chips but “non-collecting types” who often ask for a layaway scheme.

Baguio artists continue to be productive, the evidence being in the number of shows they were able to mount in Baguio, Manila, or elsewhere. John Frank Sabado, a recipient of the CCP 13 Artists Award, had a show of pen-and-ink portraits and mixed-media murals inspired by Cordillera motifs and rhythms at Iggy’s Inn. Photographer Tommy Hafalla, also a 13 Artists awardee, exhibited a series of monochromes exploring “modernity and First World changes from the eyes of an 80-year old Igorot.”

At Hiraya Gallery Leonard Aguinaldo had his first solo show, “Chadang and Other Rites,” where he gave full play to his fascination with shamanistic practices. Two consecutive shows called “Ensembles” at the Sanctuary featured the collage and book art projects of local artists. The old guards were not sluggish. In addition to his shows in Manila, Bencab had an exhibit of his recent paintings on handmade paper to inaugurate the new gallery at Tam-awan, while Bose was busy working on his iconoclastic images.

Young artists also came to the fore. Sisters Azra and Samantha Pinder had a painting and crafts show called “Liquid Dreams” at the Sanctuary, while Kawayan de Guia had his “Earth to Sky” show at the Lopez Memorial Museum. The Tam-awan artists went to Cubao to exhibit their new works and to Palawan to conduct workshops and interact with kindred spirits.

In 2001 the art and culture scene in Northern Luzon was alive with projects aimed at reclaiming a vanishing heritage, but it was also enlivened by the work of contemporary artists cultivating new artistic practices while nourishing yesterday’s gains.

http://www.livinginthephilippines.com/philculture/culture&arts/reclaim_heritage.html

[ark]

Wonderboy, This is the Calle Real (Royal Street) of Iloilo City

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3423/1224/400/calle_real_jm_basa_iloilo3.0.jpg

Calle Real is the old name of the Iznart and J.M. Basa Streets, which is lined by businesses owned mostly by Filipino-Chinese traders. The street boasts of buildings that date back during the Spanish and American colonial periods.

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3423/1224/1600/basajm.jpg

Calle Real was also known as the “Escolta of Iloilo”. It was the site of most of the city's European, Chinese and American retail stores, with property values markedly high along it.

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J.M. Basa is a shopping and business district of the city. Here you can find a wide array of products distinct from what you find in malls which are a lot cheaper and more reflective of Ilonggo culture.

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3423/1224/400/calle_real_jm_basa_iloilo2.0.jpg

Regent Theater is supposed to be the oldest theater house outside Metro Manila. cool ha! kaya lang nangananib na magsara dahil d maka compete sa mga sinehan sa malls.

ive also posted a pic of the hosky'n bldg.-home of the hoskyn's and co.-the first dept. store in the phils.

im kinda happy na the gov't is now making moves to save our heritage. three cheers! :cheers:

[JAMAICUS]

GOOD NEWS FOR THE HERITAGE WATCHERS

MIRAMAR HOTEL

By ROBERT REQUINTINA

Definitely an icon in the big city, Miramar Hotel, located along Roxas Boulevard just across the Manila Bay, boasts of its 1930’s art deco facade and interiors beaming with elegance and beauty.

Despite the havoc wrought by the last war, Miramar stands steadfast with its newly-refurbished hotel building. The hotel now offers elegant accommodations ranging from presidential suites, junior suites, superior family to superior double rooms, deluxe and standard rooms. All rooms possess a resplendent character of the 1930’s with art deco paintings from the Metropolitan Museum of Manila.

Miramar is comparable to hotels in Geneva or Sofia for its mystifying decor which speaks of nostalgia. Guests can also prepare fast meals in the little kitchen and bar located in their rooms. All the rooms have been painstakingly renovated to restore the hotel’s historical and cultural glory.

A conspicuous area nowhere to be found in modern hotels today is the elegant atrium where silky sunlight seeps from the roof and touches the coffee or dining area as one sips refreshing juice or takes Italian brewed coffee. The romantic, meditative area is ideal for an intimate candlelight dinner or simply for tete-a-tete.

Hotel Miramar’s Bistro Michelle at the lobby welcomes guests who have come either for fine luscious dining or evening entertainment. Bistro Michelle endears itself to guests with its sumptuous menu, carefully and exclusively prepared for the most discriminating taste. Guests will delight in its Mediterranean-inspired shrimp and mango salad, Oriental linguini and a sansrival that is layered with jackfruit, glazed with peanuts and laced with caramel – a runaway seller.

Miramar boasts of its menu’s delectable uniqueness. Its European and Asian dishes have been modified to provide a local touch and satisfy the varying tastes of its multinational clientele.

The piano bar on the mezzanine floor reinforces the restaurant’s Art Deco motif. A resident singer serenades guests who come in for drinks. Guests who feel up to it are invited to sing a song or two to the mellow strains of the bar’s piano.

Miramar Hotel is also a perfect venue for presentations, short business courses, beauty and lifestyle workshops, special sessions for society hostesses, fashion shows, launchings and presentations.

It serves breakfast as early as 6 a.m., with an extensive breakfast menu that includes Beef Tapa, Pork Tocino, Pork Longaniza and Daing na Bangus served with garlic rice, pickled vegetables and fried egg (Filipino breakfast), as well as international favorites like Streaky Bacon, Farmer’s Ham, Corned Beef Hash and Sausage served with egg, toasted bread and butter. There’s also French toast, Chori Rice (Pampalona chorizo fried rice), Breakfast Sausage and Pancake, Tuna Rice Omelet, Arroz Caldo con Chorizo and Cereals.

Bistro Michelle also serves sandwiches, pasta, appetizers, soups, salads, entrees and desserts for merienda and meals.

"Our food is a selection of Eastern and Western dishes. It’s a mix of French, Chinese and Filipino dishes, dishes which sound familiar but are given a different twist, but it’s not fusion cuisine. It’s something different," explained Michelle Pe, general manager of both the hotel and the restaurant and the culinary brain behind Bistro Michelle’s exciting menu.

Just how exciting can the menu get? How about getting a clubhouse sandwich that’s not piled up and sliced into four diagonal parts but rolled up, sushi style, and pan-fried to a golden crisp? It’s called Eclectic Rolled Sandwich. And how about good ol’ Pancit Canton transformed into a delicious pasta concoction? How would you like a lamb entree sans the foul smell and after taste often associated with it? In Kordero Adobado, the lamb is cooked adobo style. "I do French style preparation work for the lamb. I freeze it and then remove the silvery plastic around the bones by scraping it with the back of a knife, so there’s no unpleasant smell and taste to the meat," Michelle said. Dessert is particularly big at Bistro Michelle, since Michelle took up patisserie and likes treating the plate as her canvas. Her specialties are: Chocolate Marquise (light chocolate mousse on layers of almond meringue and chocolate ganache); Turtle Pie (chocolate ice cream mousse on a layer of caramel with walnut and Oreo crust); and Jackfruit Sans rival (four layers of cashew meringue smothered with butter icing filled with chunks of stewed jackfruit).

Even diabetics can also have their fill of sumptuous food sans the sugar at Bistro Michelle with dishes like Mango and Shrimp Salad and Roasted Lapu-Lapu, which Michelle developed for her diabetic mom.

[overtureph]

Songs for my mother

First posted 10:13pm (Mla time) April 08, 2006
By Chelo Banal Formoso
Inquirer



Editor's Note: Published on page C1 of the April 9, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

THAT SATURDAY THAT I SAT BY the Porac river watching the ArtiSta. Rita mini-concert, I had never missed my mother more. Song after Kapampangan song, I thought of how much she would have enjoyed herself had she joined us. But that morning she woke up feeling a lot out of sorts, so I didn’t protest when she decided to stay home. I should have insisted she come along, I kept thinking to myself, for how to wrap up this wonderful experience and bring it home to her? How do I translate the feelings of exhilaration and renewal all around and within me into mere words? How do I thank her for giving me a Kapampangan soul and for raising me around a language that is both rhythmical and consoling?

I had wondered if my mother had heard the songs before. “Atin ku pung Singsing” everybody knows, but what about the others? I got the answer when the next morning I played the two ArtiSta. Rita CDs I bought for her. She made comments like “This is a balse” or “This is like a zarzuela.” She sang
along, swayed her head, tapped her foot and, I suppose, journeyed back to a sunny place in her heart that she deemed not worth sharing with any of her nine children until now.

“Oh that song,” she said in Kapampangan, amused as the opening strains of “Aro!” played. “My mother’s friends in the market would start singing it whenever they saw us coming. They would tease me about being flat-nosed and dark-skinned. It would make your grandma so mad she’d grab and toss the stuff they were selling.” (For the record, my mother outgrew the flat nose, retained her gorgeous tan and turned out to be a very attractive woman. All her friends say not one of her six daughters could hold a candle to her beauty—but what do they know?)

My grandmother, Catalina Gozum, was a tall, big-boned woman. In my mind I pictured a market scene where a woman with my built and my temper was overturning tables, causing fruits and veggies and other wares to fly all over the place. We called my mom’s mother Apo, which is Kapampangan for “grandparent” and quite the opposite of the Tagalog word apo (accent on the second syllable) for “grandchild.” I was my grandma’s pet until my brother Joel was born and upstaged me. Apo died when I was on my senior year in college, but I remember her face vividly. It is not true that time washes out the color and details of your memories, at least not with me.

And yet I honestly had not thought about my Apo in years until I heard the ArtiSta. Rita songs. It was on trips with my grandmother that I got to be familiar with a few Pampango folk songs included in the “Kapampangan Ku” CD. I spent my childhood summers vacationing with my Apo in Betis and San Luis, Pampanga and in Tarlac, Tarlac. Betis because that was her hometown (her mother is a Serrano, her father, a Gozum); San Luis because that was where her eldest son Facundo lived after marrying Filomena of the Carlos family; and Tarlac because that was where she settled down upon marriage to my grandfather Atilano Rojas (of the Guarin and Rojas families of Arayat).

Dramatic settings

While the ArtiSta. Rita have yet to perform in the market where my grandmother toppled tables, they have held concerts in equally dramatic settings. Most of their concerts are held with a landmark as background. One year they performed by an old villa owned by the Guanzons. Another year it was at the two-century-old San Guillermo Church in Bacolor. For us, it was by a river.

“Muritan mu,” said my cousin Belle Aleta, a balikbayan from Vienna and daughter of the aforementioned Facundo and Filomena, when she invited me to the impromptu show. Murit is Kapampangan for “crazy” so no one expected a serious performance with live orchestra, lights and the works. It was understood that it was all going to be just for fun, a dress rehearsal kinda but with a river running through it.

Ambiance is very important to Andy Alviz, the group’s creative director. “You save on the cost of the set. The ambiance is there right away, and at the same time you show the audience the beauty of Pampanga,” he says.

Andy owes his theatrical wisdom to his stints as choreographer of the Manila, Hong Kong and Singapore stagings of the Broadway hit “Miss Saigon.” (Next month, he will be choreographing the Korean version.)

The young take to the old

According to Andy, children in Sta. Rita are not given to playing in the streets or goofing off in the fields. Instead, they form groups and sing. So in 2001, the Riteños thought of putting on a Christmas show where they would gather all the choirs. “We got together about 12 groups,” he says. Young and old, male and female, they were all drafted for the show.

“That was when I realized there were very talented musical directors right in my home town,” he adds, referring to Resy Pineda, Gie Lansang and Randy del Rosario.

The ArtiSta. Rita Foundation, which has united the disparate singing groups of the town into one choir, is an offshoot of the 2001 concert. The concerts and the two CDs produced by ArtiSta. Rita (a third one is in progress) have caused the renaissance of Kapampangan art and culture. They have also erased the usual notion that folk songs are only for old people.

“Young people in Pampanga are singing our songs now,” says Andy with pride. Not just in Pampanga though. Since I brought home the ArtiSta. Rita CDs, my children and their cousins have taken to listening to Kapampangan music when the family gets together for Sunday lunch with my mother. They particularly love “Oya Na” and the other folk songs that have been given a rap twist.

Supporting ArtiSta. Rita are 150 volunteers, of which 70 are performers, ranging in age from 5 to 70. The bulk are in their 20s. Grants for the recordings and the upkeep of the choir have come from “Miss Saigon” producer Cameron McIntosh and his foundation, Pampanga Gov. Mark Lapid, the Holy Angel University and the Oasis Hotel, as well as donations from appreciative Kapampangans.

Through their performances and recordings, the Sta. Rita artists have inspired hordes of their cabalen to rediscover their roots. Alice Castro, who owns popular restaurant Holidayland in San Fernando, has seen two shows and doesn’t mind going to another. But it’s the balikbayans who are most affected emotionally by the ArtiSta. Rita show.

“We were not sure people would like the show,” says Andy, “but we thought it might be like ‘Field of Dreams,’ you know, if you build it they will come. And it’s been like that so far. People have come up to me and said, ‘We came home from Australia or Hawaii or Canada to watch the show.’”

Last December, all the grand matriarchs of Pampanga’s leading families supposedly came to Sta. Rita for the Duman Festival, which was made doubly attractive by an ArtiSta. Rita concert.

The ArtiSta. Rita’s music will be coming ’round the mountain on Easter Sunday, April 16, when they put on a sunset show at the Solman Ayala Farmhaus, which is nestled at the foot of Mt. Arayat.

I have promised my mother I will take her, and I will, come rain or high lahar.

To get to Mt. Arayat from the North Expressway, take the Angeles exit, go toward Magalang all the way to Pampanga Agricultural College. Then follow the road that leads to Ayala and Sto. Nino. Venue is five minutes away from PAC.

Tickets will be sold at the gate but it’s best to reserve. Call 0917-8012687 or 0920-9024433.

E-mail cbformoso@inquirer.com.ph


Copyright 2006 Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


http://news.inq7.net/lifestyle/index.php?index=1&story_id=72115

[Wonderboy]

Lewdsaint, thanks for the Iloilo photos. Calle Real has the potential to become a "commerical hub" wherein the old structures can still be occupied. Here's hoping that my fellow Manileños are also culturally sensitive like the Ilonggos.

Actually, I think people from provinces give high regard to their heritage than the Manileños.

Overtureph and Animo, thank you for the articles! It's nice to know that SSC forumers like you are also taking part in informing everyone about heritage conservation.

[overtureph]

Pride of Place : More streetwalking discoveries

First posted 01:44am (Mla time) April 10, 2006
By Augusto Villalon
Inquirer



Editor's Note: Published on page C4 of the April 10, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

DEAR MR. VILLALON,

As much as I would like to see Manila reborn, this city is better wiped out from the face of the earth.

It is a garbage dump, a sewer pit, poverty center, corruption capital, traffic gridlock and pollution paradise. It has to be the worst city in Southeast Asia, worse than Hanoi.

I don't know why people here [in Manila] are stupid and pathetic enough to still justify living here and finding beauty in all the soot and stink.

A walking tour? Sige nga, where else can you have a tour except in the Binondo-Ermita area? Do you think I would like to walk along Edsa? I'd rather walk along Khao San or Silom in BKK than here. Colon Street in Cebu or Rizal Blvd. in Dumaguete has more character than the Boardwalk.

So, it's rather funny to see people trumpeting the beauty of this dying carcass of a metropolis, because everyone knows that a garbage can is a garbage can, and no matter how you beautify it, it still stinks and looks like a garbage can.

A stroll along the closed Arroceros Park? Hello! That is, if you want to die of lung cancer!

JOSE CRUZ via e-mail

The message above was a reader's passionate reaction to last week's column on "streetwalking discoveries" around Manila.

Mr. Cruz also sent a second e-mail, suggesting that walking tour itineraries of other cities be published since "it's better to kill this city [Manila]. It's hopeless."

I am a resolutely hopeful advocate of heritage, but last week's column on summer streetwalking discoveries brought surprising feedback from individuals who have taken the time to discover and document what is special in their cities. They eagerly share their pride of place with us.

Cagayan de Oro walk

Inquirer columnist Antonio J. Montalvan II e-mailed about walking through his native Cagayan de Oro:

"There is now a walking tour in Cagayan de Oro. It is run by a group of local travel operators who conceptualized the walk after consultation with us.

"The tour brings one to the city's Spanish and American colonial heritage places: the 1845 St. Augustine Cathedral; the plaza across it where there is a National Historical Institute marker on the April 7, 1900, Battle of Cagayan; the 1939 City Hall building; the 1901 Plaza Divisoria where there is a 1916 Rizal monument fabricated in Carriedo; and Museo de Oro inside Xavier University which contains one of only three extant copies of the menu card for Aguinaldo's inaugural dinner in Malolos."

It is not just urban history for walkers joining the Cagayan de Oro tour. There is an environmental experience as well.

Montalvan writes: "From the museum, tour participants are then treated to a kayak ride on Cagayan River which passes the Huluga site, one of the premier archaeological sites in the country, and ends in Carmen Bridge behind St. Augustine Cathedral and City Hall. The bridge is the site of the late 1800s Puente del General Ramon Blanco, which collapsed on the day of its inauguration."

Cagayan de Oro Outfitters is a private tour group composed of local travel operators that organizes the walks. The organizers are women in their 30s, Reina Olavides Bontuyan, Chisum Factura, and Lilet Bioco. The tour costs P550 per person. Contact them at cdo_outfitters@yahoo.com or 0917-7081568.

Cebu walk

"I love history," e-mailed Mr. Sancover of Cebu, who offers a link that takes us on a virtual walk through his city and other places in Cebu province which can be replicated on foot.
(Check http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=300832&page=1&p
p=20.)

Sancover's itinerary and images for a do-it-yourself walking tour include the historic Colon Street Markers and the colonnaded American colonial period Cebu Normal School in downtown Cebu.

His images include stunning but threatened Cebuano churches in the southern coastal towns of Argao, Sibonga, and the shamelessly tarted-up Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, a victim of unscrupulous "restoration" that deserves to be the national example of how to desecrate heritage.

Around the country

Heritage conservation professional Ivan Henares, who organized the successful San Fernando (Pampanga) Heritage Tourism Program, travels the country tirelessly. He yields heritage and natural sites tucked away in forgotten places.

Henares' blog is all about the wonders of our country. He also navigates visitors around different places, pointing out what there is to see and do, providing a comprehensive itinerary for do-it-yourself walks.

Visit his blog at http://ivanhenares.blogspot.com.
Another interesting heritage blog for sharing is "Icomos Philippines" (the Philippine Committee of the Paris-based International Council for Monuments and Sites), http://icomosphilippines.blogspot.com.

There is also "The Gabaldon Legacy," featuring heritage schoolhouses in the country, some of them being restored by the Heritage Conservation Society and the Department of Education. Check out http://gabaldon.blogspot.com.

Sancover's and Henares' materials are great for armchair (actually, computer-monitor) travel. The superior quality of their text and images is almost like being physically at the places they write about.

But there's no substitute for the real thing. This is the season to discover the abundance of heritage, history and nature in the Philippines instead of taking out your passport and traveling overseas.

Discovering the Philippines is essential for developing pride of place, and an opportunity to see for yourself how great the Philippines and the Filipinos are.

Seeing is believing. Therefore, I invite Mr. Josè Cruz for a walk in the closed Arroceros Forest Park where we can both breathe the fresh air generated by the forest of trees, proof that there is, indeed, a way to curb urban pollution and there's a way out of Manila's urban blight if private individuals would stop complaining and band together for the sake of our city and to improve quality of life.

Feedback is welcome at afvillalon@hotmail.com


Copyright 2006 Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://news.inq7.net/lifestyle/index.php?index=2&story_id=72206&col=1

[OtAkAw]

^^Manila is hopeless? Are they f****** us???

[JAMAICUS]

Wow, pessimiss' talking again. They should look at Manila before. Manila has hope.

[Josepepe]

To quote from the book Authentic though not Exotic:' While studying and teaching in the U.S., a frequent insinuation I met was "Oh, the Philippines? You mean tree houses/little bamboo huts/Smokey Mountain"? I countered this by showing books on our houses in wood and stone from the 1800s to the 1930s and on our baroque churches. For large, free-standing structures either timber and stone that attempt to symbolize the cosmos and Man's place within it indicate a sophisticated level of social development. They require a variety of specialized skills from masonry to mathematics, a managerial class to coordinate thousands of artisans, and speculative thinkers. Such structures first appeared in the Near East three millenia before Christ; then in India and China, and during the first millenium after Christ, in other Asian countries. Examples are the temples of Nara and Kyoto, the sacred city of Angkor, and the vast stupa of Borobudur. However in the lowlands of Luzon and Visayas, available data indicate that such stone structures with cosmic symbolism would appear only from the early seventeenth century onward in the form of churches. The native artisans who built these eighteenth-nineteenth-century had a good knowledge of the Golden Mean, as shown by a recent, unpublished study by the Spanish architect Santiago Porras. Often their designs and their details are exquisite. But many educated Filipinos feel alienated. They deride these designs as products of "forced labor." I have often heard architects dismiss these stone legacy as a " colonial imposition."

Source: F. Zialcita, An Identity Under Question, pp. 2-3.

+++++++++
josepepe

[JustHorace]

Manila will not have any chance unless some rich person helps us restore these buildings.
This is what happened to Beirut. Seeing Beirut 25 years ago, you'll think that it's totally hopeless. But now, much of the city has been restored to its former glamour. Pwede na siyag tawaging Paris of the East ulit. May funding kasi from a Lebanese billionaire.

[Wonderboy]

Pride of Place : More streetwalking discoveries

First posted 01:44am (Mla time) April 10, 2006
By Augusto Villalon
Inquirer

Editor's Note: Published on page C4 of the April 10, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

DEAR MR. VILLALON,

As much as I would like to see Manila reborn, this city is better wiped out from the face of the earth.

It is a garbage dump, a sewer pit, poverty center, corruption capital, traffic gridlock and pollution paradise. It has to be the worst city in Southeast Asia, worse than Hanoi.

I don't know why people here [in Manila] are stupid and pathetic enough to still justify living here and finding beauty in all the soot and stink.

A walking tour? Sige nga, where else can you have a tour except in the Binondo-Ermita area? Do you think I would like to walk along Edsa? I'd rather walk along Khao San or Silom in BKK than here. Colon Street in Cebu or Rizal Blvd. in Dumaguete has more character than the Boardwalk.

So, it's rather funny to see people trumpeting the beauty of this dying carcass of a metropolis, because everyone knows that a garbage can is a garbage can, and no matter how you beautify it, it still stinks and looks like a garbage can.

A stroll along the closed Arroceros Park? Hello! That is, if you want to die of lung cancer!

JOSE CRUZ via e-mail

He he...I read this last night and I thought, this guy obviously doesn't know what he's talking about. I beg to disagree that Manila is just one huge hopeless dump.

It's very frustrating that this kind of mindset is in fact how most Manileños think --- this is a sad fact that should be dealt seriously.

Perhaps instead of complaining that Manila is dirty, polluted, etc., that guy should help out in saving the beleaguered city of our affections.

[Wonderboy]

Manila will not have any chance unless some rich person helps us restore these buildings.
This is what happened to Beirut. Seeing Beirut 25 years ago, you'll think that it's totally hopeless. But now, much of the city has been restored to its former glamour. Pwede na siyag tawaging Paris of the East ulit. May funding kasi from a Lebanese billionaire.

This is true though only a handful would shell out their money to restore certain buildings. Luneta hotel for instance is owned by a Chinese guy (I forgot his name (I apologize for the lapse in memory) and he still has no plans of restoring it. Would he demolish it and put up another shoe box structure? A parking space perhaps? He's got the money and it's already private owned thus, no amount of cursing and pleading would make him decide to restore Luneta Hotel because there's no law or even a city ordinance to protect it.

What's so disappointing is the "Landmark Bill" has not yet been passed. Congressmen are more interested in changing streetnames, making privilege speech to oust the president.

Let's just hope that those privilege few with tons of money to waste would contribute for a good cause instead.

(By the way, I just found out that some privately-owned heritage structures owned by those rich people you mentioned doesn't want a historical marker be plastered on their buildings...why? So that they can do anything with the heritage sites without the consent of NHI/ NCCA or even HCS).

[overtureph]

Inquirer Northern Luzon : A Lenten journey to Central, Northern Luzon

First posted 11:22pm (Mla time) April 11, 2006
Inquirer



Editor's Note: Published on Page A14 of the April 12, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

AS the nation pauses this week for the Lenten break, people start to leave Metro Manila to spend Holy Week in destinations that would rejuvenate their body and soul.

Central and Northern Luzon, the regions nearest and more accessible to the capital, offer various destinations for people who would want to take time off from the pressures of urban living.

Inquirer correspondents in Northern and Central Luzon compiled some of these pilgrimage destinations to guide people who want to find a sanctuary where they can recharge their spirits and strengthen their faith.

Central Luzon

Pampanga. Seven old churches in Pampanga make fitting destinations for the Visita Iglesia on Maundy Thursday.

Their being long-standing monuments to the Catholic devotion can give the commemoration of the visita—the vigil of the Apostles as Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane—a more authentic journey of faith.

The route, suggested by the Department of Tourism, hops from the Santo Rosario Parish in Angeles City, Metropolitan Cathedral in the City of San Fernando, Santa Monica Parish in Minalin, San Guillermo Church in Bacolor, Santiago de Galicia Parish (Betis Church) in Guagua, Santa Lucia Parish in Sasmuan and to the oldest of them all, the San Agustin Parish in Lubao.

These churches were built under the supervision of the Augustinians who spread the faith from Pampanga—the province created by Spain at almost the same time as Manila in 1571—to the rest of Central and Northern Luzon.

Pampanga also stages the Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) in San Pedro Cutud village in the City of San Fernando. The village has drawn local and foreign pilgrims to watch penitents reenact Jesus Christ’s passion, crucifixion and death on Good Friday.

Nueva Ecija. Barangay Olivete in Bongabon, Nueva Ecija, is a popular Lenten destination for people seeking spiritual rejuvenation and healing.

Pilgrims gather at the Sambahan ng Amang Kaama-amahan at Inang Kaina-inahan’s “New Jerusalem.” The religious sect’s shrine has a chapel on a hill at the foot of the Sierra Madre mountain range and a spring that members call “Ilog Jordan (Jordan River).”

Mario Saad, barangay captain of Olivete, says one of the highlights of the pilgrimage is the sect’s procession on Good Friday, where participants walk barefoot on the 2.3-km stretch of the village’s dirt road.

“This village is a sight to behold on the night of Good Friday. The feeling will be something spiritual when you watch the long line of people participating in the procession,” Saad says.

Nueva Ecija also offers its bigger churches for the Visita Iglesia. Among them are the Divine Shepherdess Shrine in Gapan City, and the Catholic churches in the towns of Sta. Rosa, Sto. Domingo and Talavera, and the cities of Cabanatuan, Muñoz and San Jose.

Tarlac. The village of Barangay Dolores, located west of Tarlac City, celebrates the feast of its patron saint on a Friday immediately before Good Friday (during Viernes Dolores, as Catholics call it). Their patron saint is Mater Dolorosa, one of the many names that the Blessed Virgin Mary is called.

Home to this village is a natural spring, a rarity in a landlocked province like Tarlac. From this spring comes cool water believed to be miraculous that has drawn many a faithful to the area, especially during the Holy week.

Ilocos

Pangasinan. The Nuestra Señora de Manaoag Church in Manaoag town in eastern Pangasinan is one of the top spiritual centers in the country. Believers swear about miracles that occurred in their lives after praying to the Our Lady of Manaoag, an image of the Virgin Mary.

People from other provinces and other countries flock to the town not only during Holy Week but even during ordinary days when Masses are held several times a day. The town is usually a jump-off point for tourists on their way to the Ilocos provinces and Baguio City.

Another pilgrimage destination is the Our Lady of Rosales Shrine in Rosales town. President Macapagal-Arroyo boosted its popularity as a pilgrim site due to her regular visits there.

Pilgrims may also visit the Santuario del Señor Teroso in Calasiao town, perhaps the only religious shrine in the country being managed by the local government and a foundation. The image, which believers say is “growing” through the years, is housed in a building near the town hall.

In western Pangasinan, there’s Surip in Bani where the town’s version of Calvary Hills is located. The 1,000-step Via Crucis passes through a forested area and leads to a giant cross atop a hill overlooking the green hills and the South China Sea.

La Union. Foremost among the religious sites visited by tourists and pilgrims in La Union is the Agoo Basilica where the Our Lady of Charity (Apo Caridad to Ilocano devotees) is enshrined.

On Good Friday, a religious procession of life-size statues depicting the Stations of the Cross starts from the basilica and winds through designated processional roads in the town.

The procession features 29 carrozas (carriages) carrying life-size statues and other fixtures depicting the passion and death of Christ.

Local men pull each carroza that is followed by candle-bearing devotees.

On Maundy Thursday, the stage play “Golgotha” will be performed at the Jose D. Aspiras Civic Center across the basilica.

About 40 km to the north is San Fernando City, where the Pindangan Ruins is located. Pindangan (which means a place for drying fish) was a settlement during the Spanish era, where an Augustinian priest, Fr. Jose Torres, built the St. William Church.

The church was later transferred to its current location near the city plaza and is now known as the Cathedral of St. William the Hermit, seat of the Diocese of San Fernando. The Pindangan Ruins is 3 km from the city plaza.

North of San Fernando City is the coastal town of Luna where the Church of Catherine of Alexandria is located. Built in the center of the town (formerly called Namacpacan), the church houses the image of Our Lady of Namacpacan (“Apo Baket Who Fed People” in Iloco), patroness of Ilocano travelers.

Ilocos Sur. The Visita Iglesia in Ilocos Sur begins in Sinait town near the Ilocos Norte border. The Sinait Church or the Shrine of Santo Cristo Milagroso is deceptively simple but it may have the most historical relic in the province.

It houses “Apo Lacay,” a statue of the crucified Christ, which, according to accounts of old residents there, was found floating near the shore in Darangay Dadalaquiten together with the La Virgen Milagrosa de Badoc in the 17th century.

According to old residents, the two images chose to stay where they are now. During a pestilence in Vigan centuries ago, Apo Lacay was brought there and the outbreak ceased.

Equally miraculous is the statue of St. Vincent Ferrer in San Vicente town. Aside from the church’s cornices (a molding at the corner between the ceiling and the top of a wall), the church features an old ornate wooden altar.

The Church of St. William the Hermit in Magsingal town is also a must-see for pilgrims for its wooden altar divided into eight niches.

The more than 400-year-old Church of San Juan de Sahagun in Candon City was done in the baroque style. The Sta. Lucia Church is architecturally interesting because its dome was done in the Renaissance style. It also houses the statue of the “Dark Virgin.”

The Nuestra Señora de la Asuncion Church in Sta. Maria town was designated a national historical landmark in 1993. It was built on a hill and after climbing the 83 steps toward the church, one can view a panorama of the town.

St. Paul’s Cathedral in Vigan City replaced a small wooden church erected in 1574 under orders by the conquistador Juan de Salcedo, who established Ciudad Fernandina (the old Vigan). Also in Vigan is the Simbaan a Bassit (small church), which is an old cemetery church.

Ilocos Norte. The Department of Tourism has identified at least eight town parishes as pilgrim sites that are worth visiting this summer.

Milagros Gonzales, provincial tourism officer, says except for the Badoc Church which is home to a blessed religious image, most pilgrim sites are known for their cultural and historical import.

Four churches are found in the province’s southern towns of Badoc, Batac, Paoay and San Nicolas; two are in the eastern towns of Sarrat and Dingras while the Bacarra Church is in the northern section. The Laoag Cathedral is at the heart of the capital city.

To those coming from the southern section, the first stop is the Badoc Church named after its patron saint John the Baptist.

The Badoc Church is also home to the miraculous image of the Virgin Mary (La Virgen Milagrosa de Badoc) with the infant Jesus wrapped in her arms. The wooden image of La Virgen Milagrosa is also the patroness of the Laoag Diocese.

Also included in these sites are the Batac Church established in 1586 (Immaculate Conception Church), the San Nicolas de Tolentino Church in San Nicolas town and the St. Andrew the Apostle Church in Bacarra.

While the Paoay Church in Paoay town is best described as a world heritage site, locals revere the world icon because of its miraculous beginnings.

Inside the church is a chamber of French saint Roch (San Roque), a patron against pestilence and sickness.

Oral history says the image of San Roque was found in a well in 1820 when the townspeople were afflicted with a plague. Those who drank from the well were cured. The well, declared as a shrine in honor of San Roque, still stands in Barangay Sangladan west of Paoay Church.

A landmark in Sarrat town, the Sta. Monica Church features a 137-meter nave that is the longest in the country, according to the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Encyclopedia of Philippine Art.

Locals consider the St. Joseph Parish Church as the single most important structure in Dingras town. Formerly known as rurog (ruins), the Dingras Church was restored through the collective efforts of local residents and those abroad.

The last pilgrim stop is the St. William Cathedral, in honor of Laoag’s patron saint, William the Hermit. It was said to be the first religious edifice and one of the biggest churches that the Spaniards built.

Cagayan Valley

Cagayan. The ancient brick churches of Cagayan, once the seat of the Catholic Church in Northern Luzon, provide pilgrims a peek into the deep influence of the Catholic Church in the lives of the native Ibanag and Itawes.

Topping the Holy Week destinations in the province is the Iguig Calvary, a five-hectare rolling land where pilgrims retrace the 14 Stations of the Cross. The area features concrete life-size images that feature the suffering and death of Christ.

Another popular stop for pilgrims is the St. Peter’s Cathedral in Tuguegarao City. Its patio is a small version of the St. Peter’s Square in Rome that features 14 framed images of the Stations of the Cross.

Pilgrims are also drawn to nearby Peñablanca town where a chapel is built inside a chamber of the Callao Caves.

The Basilica Minore of the Our Lady of Piat in Piat, Cagayan draws a steady stream of pilgrims and tourists for the miracles attributed to the image.

The churches of Amulung, Gattaran, Lallo and Camalaniugan are also popular stops for pilgrims and tourists alike.

Camalaniugan is home to the oldest church bells forged in Asia in 1595.

Isabela. Catholic devotees in Isabela have started visiting the Stations of the Cross at Dariok Hills in Santiago City.

The Chapel of Transfiguration in the area offers pilgrims an area to pray and meditate.

“Aside from its ambience as a religious site, it is also a place for meditation and soul-searching. You can commune with God and nature here,” says Mayor Amelita Navarro.

Isabela also hosts ancient churches that devotees can visit. Among these are the Shrine of Our Lady of the Visitation in Gamu town; the Tumauini Church (parish church of St. Mathias built in 1753 and completed in 1805), which is made of clay and bricks; and the ancient churches of Alicia and San Pablo towns.

Nueva Vizcaya. An annual Lenten activity that is fast gaining popularity in Nueva Vizcaya is the senaculo that is regularly performed on Bangan Hill in Barangay Vista Alegre in Bayombong town.

The hill, which has been called “Nueva Vizcaya’s Calvary,” has become an ideal site for the Holy Week presentation, as it is within the 13-hectare Bangan Hill National Park.

Thousands of Catholic devotees who troop to the site every Good Friday are treated to a play that is performed through songs, dances, poems and declamation pieces by about 50 characters portraying the procession through the Stations of the Cross and the crucifixion of Christ on Mount Calvary.


Copyright 2006 Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


http://news.inq7.net/regions/index....id=72431&col=36

[Wonderboy]

And I quote Dr. Zialcita...

"But isn't Prince Charles merely saying what we all have been saying? And there was the actress Claire Danes who complained about Manila being a city of cripples and rats.

Why indeed would investors and tourists come?

We should send statements like this to the City and to the Palace."

Prince Charles on Manila: ‘Awful, filthy, smelly’
First posted 11:18pm (Mla time) Mar 25, 2006
By Anton San Diego
Inquirer

MUST-WATCH TV SERIES— “Grey’s Anatomy.” I am through being “desperate” and “lost.” For me, the most exciting TV series in the world is “Grey’s Anatomy.” A consistent top-10 rater in the US, “Grey’s Anatomy” is about five surgical interns—their lives, heartbreaks and medical challenges. It’s a cross between “ER” (less serious), “Sex and the City”/“Ally McBeal,” and Scrubs (less slapstick). You will definitely fall in love with the characters —ice queen Cristina (Sandra Oh); ex-model Izzie (Katherine Heigl); nerdy but likeable George (T.R. Knight); arrogant ladies man Alex (Justin Chambers); and the show’s namesake, Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo).

And, of course, there’s Dr. McDreamy Derek Shepherd played by ’80s teen heartthrob Patrick Dempsey, who, like Teri Hatcher, is enjoying a career revival. The character is the love interest of Meredith, and although Dempsey has matured, he still retains that JFK Jr. appeal that has made women feel weak in the knees.

Great news! Star World and Studio 23 is picking up the series and will be premiering it soon. Don’t miss this one, it’s totally addicting.

Stepping out. More than 10 years ago, Sofia Elizalde opened a dance studio in a small bungalow in Bel-Air Village and named it Steps Dance Studio. Since then, it has established a solid reputation as one of the most dynamic, innovative and creative studios in town, thanks to its superb facilities, trained instructors and the personal touch of the owner, of course!

For summer, the studio is offering an array of dance styles from jazz, modern dance, ballet, tap, street dance and the very popular hot dance, the exercise du jour flamenco. For more inquiries, call 7572984.

Prince Charles’ private journals. The controversial diary of Prince Charles has been published and is causing quite a stir all over the world. The diary, which lists his thoughts during the Hong Kong handover in 1997, titled “The Great Chinese Takeaway,” describes Chinese leaders as “appalling old waxworks.” Written during his 14-hour trip back to the UK, he questions why he was riding business and not first class. “It took me some time to realize that this was not first class, although it puzzled me as to why the seat seemed so uncomfortable.”

When he found out that other dignitaries on the British Airways flight were riding first class, he wrote, “Such is the end of Empire, I sighed to myself.” The Prince is suing the tabloid who leaked it to the public saying that he is “entitled to his privacy like any person.”

But hasn’t he learned that he is not like the rest of us? He should take the cue from his mother, Queen Elizabeth, who does not comment on anything and is a great role model when it comes to “royal duties.”

If he was going to be this vocal, he should have done it way back before he married the late Princess Diana, and we know how that ended up.

The journal opens the public’s eyes on his sincerity—is he a bigot and a racist? Everyone is entitled to one’s opinion, but someone with his stature and with the overworked spin doctors who try to make him and his soulmate Camilla acceptable must be beyond reproach.

Lastly, our city was not spared in the journal when he called Manila “an awful, smelly polluted harbor absolutely clogged with filth and rubbish.” I think it’s time for William to take over—he might have the same sentiments (who knows with the powerful and wealthy) but at least we can forgive him since he looks royal and handsome.

E-mail the author at antonsd@philtatler.com

[kiretoce]

^^ Just curious....has His Royal Highness, Prince Charles ever step foot on Philippine soil before? I don't seem to recall that he ever did. :dunno:

[manileño]

^^ maybe His Royal Highness's ship docked in Manila Bay once on his way to Ex-British Hong Kong and he didn't actually get off. Only the harbour was noted in his diary.

[OtAkAw]

^^Maybe His ROyal Highness thinks that only Palaces, gardens, Castles, English architecture, Shakespeare and Queen Victoria are the only ones that can be deemed "clean, beautiful and orderly". You cant please everybody considering he was docked near BASECO!!!

[sista]

^^ Just curious....has His Royal Highness, Prince Charles ever step foot on Philippine soil before? I don't seem to recall that he ever did. :dunno:

I heard he was given a tarsier when he came to Bohol or something like that lol....I say don't step back in the Philippines again because some other animal might attack him or maybe the abu sayyaf might be happy to take him.

I also hate Claire Danes for saying stuff about our country

[Lili]

What they may be saying is unsavory. But just be honest, isn't it true?

[normandb]

^^ Just curious....has His Royal Highness, Prince Charles ever step foot on Philippine soil before? I don't seem to recall that he ever did. :dunno:

Yes he did. They showed in the news when Prince Charles and his son Prince William signed the guest book in Malacanang Palace.

[Wonderboy]

^^ I also remember that Prince Charles and tarsier encounter. I'm just wondering why it wasn't included in his journal.

[Wonderboy]

Photos below were taken from http://filheritagefest.fateback.com

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[overtureph]

EARTH DAY 2006
Pride of Place : Our country's natural heritage is fast disappearing

First posted 00:06am (Mla time) April 17, 2006
By Augusto Villalon
Inquirer



Editor's Note: Published on page D1 of the April 17, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

EARTH DAY NETWORK PHILIPPINES invites everyone to be part of the Earth Day celebrations planned for April 22 and to participate in the environmental events scheduled throughout this month.

Just like past Earth Day celebrations, millions of people will once again take action in their communities, drawing attention to the need to protect our children and the future generation from the effects of environmental damage.

As the International Earth Day secretariat noted, "Earth Day is a chance for ordinary people to stand together in huge numbers to show that they care and to create the momentum to make global change possible."

Environmental protection is urgent especially for us in the Philippines. Look at the state of our environment today:

1. Seventy percent of our total land area in 1900 was forested. Now only 24 percent, or 7.2 million hectares, is forested. There are only 800,000 hectares of virgin forest.
2. Scientists find that our country has the richest marine biodiversity in the world. But only less than 5 percent of our coral reefs is in excellent condition today.
3. Thirty percent to 50 percent of our sea grasses and over 50 percent of our mangroves are lost, negatively affecting the productivity of our coastal areas; today, fish catch is down from 10 kilos per fishing effort to only about 2 kilos.
4. The Philippines is second to the lowest in terms of freshwater availability in Southeast Asia (second only to Thailand as of 2000); we are now experiencing saline water intrusion is some coastal areas.
5. Total suspended particulates (TSP) in the air in most of our urban centers exceed the standards adversely affecting public health; World Bank estimates in the year 2000 of the economic cost of air pollution for Metro Manila, Baguio, Cebu and Davao is about $400 million per year.
6. Sewage, industrial effluents, agricultural and urban run-off pollute much of Philippine waters (coast, rivers, lakes, creeks); World Bank estimated the adverse impacts of water pollution on public health, fisheries and tourism to be about P67 billion per year.
7. Solid waste is mounting and improperly dumped in our creeks, rivers, lakes, seas or any vacant lot aggravating the flooding problem, polluting our surface and ground water, and serving as breeding grounds for rats, flies, cockroaches and other disease-carrying vermin.

The more frequent occurrence of landslides and flash floods tells us that the time to act is now. We can no longer allow the continued destruction of our environment, or we will destroy our very own life support systems.

The Earth Day celebrations this year focuses on the need to act locally to solve the global problem of climate change. The focus is on finding solutions at all levels-individual, as well as community, local and national government.

While each day should be Earth Day, we use Earth Day 2006 celebration to raise greater public awareness not just of environmental problems but, more importantly, of what can be done by each and every individual to protect our fragile environment.

Earth Day Network Philippines encourages individuals and groups all over the country to organize events in support of Earth Day activities in local areas.

Activities include:

Tree-planting in urban centers, mountains, mangroves, river banks, parks
Recycling events to recover and reuse waste materials and/or prevent further waste
Events promoting less use of fossil fuel such as carpooling, Takbo o Lakad para sa Kalikasan, Bike for Clean Air
Promote the use of alternative cleaner fuels (biodiesel, auto LPG, ethanol, CNG)
Beach and sea cleanup (including scubasurero by divers)
Cleanup of creeks, rivers, lake, streets, parks
Discussions/seminars/workshops on environmental topics
Free emission testing
Art contest, poster-making, song-writing, essay-writing contests and the like

Environmental concerts

Please let Earth Day Network Philippines know what you plan for Earth Day 2006. E-mail bggozun@hotmail.com or the Secretariat of the Earth Day Network Philippines sagip_pasig@yahoo.com, or fax to 9296626 loc. 216.

Please remember that all Earth Day events and actions are important, no matter how big or small they are! Every action counts!

Working together, we will send a powerful message to leaders and citizens all over the world that millions of us care and are doing something right now to create a safer and more sustainable world for our children and our shared future.

Together we have the power to make a difference. So do something for the environment.

Feedback is welcome at afvillalon@hotmail.com



Copyright 2006 Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://news.inq7.net/lifestyle/index.php?index=2&story_id=72744&col=1

[overtureph]

Hurrah for heritage!

First posted 11:27pm (Mla time) April 16, 2006
By Antonio C. Hila
Inquirer



Editor's Note: Published on page D2 of the April 17, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

THE CELEBRATION OF MAY AS National Heritage Month promises to be a treasure trove showcasing the myriad facets of the country's rich cultural heritage in songs, dances, visual arts, theater and other artistic-cultural forms.

The Filipino Heritage Festival, Inc. (FHFI), organizer of the event, disclosed this in a press conference at the InterContinental Hotel hosted by Ana Marie "Bambi" Harper, festival director.

Lawyer and National Commssion for Culture and the Arts commissioner Trixie Angeles, speaking on behalf of NCCA chair Ambeth Ocampo, underscores the significance of the celebration as the people's means of "rediscovering our greatness," to give the country its much-deserved love, which certainly is not a "lost Eden."

Harper, who gave a Power Point presentation of the activities lined up for the month, says the celebration is an effective vehicle for those who still have to be introduced to the country's vast cultural heritage.

For those who are already acquainted with Filipino heritage the celebration promises to be a dynamic package for enjoyment. She says it is "not right to say that Filipinos don't have their own culture when, in fact, we do. Knowing nothing, or next to nothing, does not mean having nothing."

FHFI president Armita B. Rufino calls on the public to help in the preservation of the nation's cultural heritage, stressing an important reminder that "taking part in our heritage does not begin and end" in the celebration as it "is something that we need to do every day."

President Macapagal-Arroyo has declared May of every year as National Heritage Month through Proclamation No. 439 on August 11, 2003, in recognition of the need to create among the people a consciousness, respect and love for Filipino cultural history.

The celebration kicks off on April 30 at Paoay, Ilocos Norte, with the tamboreros and pumipitos marching in Diana Around the Town. On May 1, a concert featuring world-renowned pianist Cecile B. Licad will be held at the patio of San Agustin Church, a Unesco World Heritage Site.

Toast to the zarzuela

This year's celebration is dubbed "Viva Zarzuela!" as it pays homage to the particular music-theater genre known as sarswela, the Pinoy-style operetta which saw its inception in 1878 and had become a form of entertainment for both the rural and urban audiences.

Two sarswelas are lined-up for staging, the Ilonggo "Ang Gugma ni Dansoy kag Rosing" and the Kapampangan "Ing Managpe."

The first will be staged on May 11 at the RCBC Theater; May 13 in Marikina City; May 16 in Makati City; May 18 at the AFP Theater; May 21 at the CCP; and May 29 in Victorias City, Negros Occidental.

"Ing Managpe" will be revived and presented by the Center for Kapampangan Studies of Holy Angels University on the open-air stage of the university's main building. An excerpt of this sarswela was performed, drawing much applause from the appreciative media members who covered the press launch. A dance ritual to drive away evil spirits was also performed by the AlunAlun Dance Circle.

Peter de Guzman, winner of the Wall of Remembrance design contest sponsored jointly by the National Historical Institute and FHFI, explained his winning entry, "Bagumbayan." The Wall will memorialize the martyrs of Bagumbayan and other Filipino heroes of the 1896 Revolution.

Tours are being organized to see historic sites and ancestral houses. On May 6, Lakbay Bulacan takes off to some historic towns in the province, such as the Biak-na-Bato National Park and ancestral houses in San Miguel, and Sevilla's Sweets; the 400-year-old Angat Church and Museum, as well as the embroidery community at Pandi.

The Laguna tour on May 13, organized by the Museum Foundation of the Philippines, includes a trip to ancestral houses in Pila, the Nineveh Contemporary Art Gallery in Sta. Cruz, Danny Dalena's house in Pakil, and a walking tour of Paete, including a visit to Angelo Baldemor's studio.

Philippine cuisine will grace dining feasts at three hotels: Hotel InterContinental which will serve Quezon's fare on May 4; New World Hotel, with Region 1 Ilocano delights; and Mandarin Oriental, with Ilonggo cuisine May 8-19. Rajo Laurel's creations and Sen. Loren Legarda's collection of gowns in native textiles would also be on view on the 8th at Mandarin.

Art and culture greats

On May 7, the FHFI will honor some of the Filipino arts and culture greats at the CCP front lawn. On the same day, sagalas, wearing baro't saya designed by members of the Fashion Designers of the Philippines Association of the Philippines, headed by veteran fashion designer Ben Farrales, will parade from Rajah Sulayman Park to the Bastion de San Diego in Intramuros.

An exhibit on National Artists will be mounted at the Rockwell Center May 10-17. On the 18th, at Hagonoy, Bulacan, a balagtasan will be held as tribute to Francisco Baltazar, the king of Filipino Poetry.

At Rajah Sulayman, May 18, the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry will sponsor a cultural fare highlighting Chinese culture consisting of music and dances, martial arts, fortunetelling, calligraphy, food booths, pottery and porcelain.

Josè Mari Chan joins the festivity as he serenades audiences with his well-loved compositions. Filipino-Chinese paintings will also be displayed at the FFCCCI building in Binondo on May 12.

On May 17, First Day stamps featuring Philippine faros (lighthouses) immortalized in Manuel Noche's book, "Lonely Sentinels of the Sea," will be launched and sold by the Philippine Postal Corporation at Ayala Museum. There will be a photo exhibit of the 26 colonial lighthouses.

The Shoe Center of Marikina will showcase Moda Marikina, a fashion show featuring Philippine costumes and shoes, May 20.

Exhibits

Exhibits galore are lined up for the entire month of May. The Noon at Ngayon Photo Exhibit on May 9 will highlight heritage sites then and now at Filipinas Heritage Library.

The centuries-old ceiling paintings of Raymundo Francia, the Philippines' Michelangelo, in Loboc Church will astound visitors on May 13. Secret mixtures concocted by Francia have helped these masterpieces to withstand the test of time. However, they may turn to waste if not properly cared for.

Father Alger Angela of the Diocese of Tagbilaran says the church ceiling exhibit attests to the Filipino's inherent talent. It will also create awareness for conservation, which in turn will support the diocese's projects to document and preserve their treasures.

On May 17-19, Unesco's 31st International Theater Institute World Congress and FHFI will display photos of national landmarks in Mu¤oz, Nueva Ecija.

In Legazpi City, a photo exhibit of 26 churches declared as heritage sites by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (Unesco), will take place.

Other exhibits include the Mindanao Indigenous Exhibit in Davao, May 19; Bangsamoro Photo Exhibit in Cotabato, May 20; Lighthouse Exhibit at Robinson's Galleria, May 23; and the Letras y Figuras Painting Exhibit, May 25.

"Bagumbayan," the winning piece in last year's Wall of Remembrance contest, will be unveiled by the National Historical Institute on Flag Day, May 28. Artist Peter de Guzman's opus is a tribute to countless unknown Katipuneros who participated in the 1896 revolution.

For details, visit FHFI website at http://filheritagefest.fateback.com, or call their office at 8925865.




Copyright 2006 Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


http://news.inq7.net/lifestyle/index.php?index=1&story_id=72731

[Wonderboy]

Located along Calle Marquez de Comillas (now Romualdez Street) is the country’s oldest dog and cat clinic founded in 1927 by Dr. Sixto Almeda, a US trained equine specialist. The 78-year old Carlos Dog and Cat Clinic closed down last August 2005 due to “slow business.”

http://img226.imageshack.us/img226/4540/d1copy8qu.jpg

The clinic was first known as a Veterinary Clinic, then became Sixto Carlos Dog and Cat Hospital in 1940. Thirty years after, it was named Dog and Cat Hospital until it got its present name in the 1990s. Its original two-story building used to be a communication station of Japanese forces. In the 1940s, the Americans burned it down and later rebuilt the house as part of reparation.

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/2725/d2copy9sq.jpg

The former site of Carlos Dog and Cat Clinic is still for sale.

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[overtureph]

As I See It : Lament for a dying town

First posted 00:54am (Mla time) April 17, 2006
By Neal H. Cruz
Inquirer



Editor's Note: Published on page A14 of the April 17, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

IT IS USUALLY AROUND HOLY THURSDAY OR Good Friday that I get to visit my relatives in Malabon because that is the time when there is no heavy traffic clogging the roads going there. Malabon is now a city but it doesn't look like one. It looks like any old decaying town with its narrow streets crammed with jeepneys and tricycles. Squatters occupy riverbanks and every other empty (or what used to be empty) space. Malabon wasn't like that.

Malabon was a nice place when I was growing up in it. It was the best of both worlds: It was near enough to Manila so that residents could shop in Divisoria or Avenida Rizal; yet it was far enough from the city to keep its rustic atmosphere and enjoy plenty of space and fresh air. For a town separated from Manila only by Caloocan, it had rice fields, plenty of fishponds, orchards and large commercial vegetable gardens.

Now all of those are gone. The unfinished city hall now occupies what used to be a vegetable garden cultivated by Chinese farmers in Barangay Catmon; and what used to be the rice fields and fishponds are now packed with houses. Sometimes it is better to think how Malabon was, back when you were a boy, than to go there and see it for what it is now.

Our big family compound used to be in the middle of fishponds, like an island. It was connected to the street by a long footpath on top of pond dikes. Nearby was the river, and over it the wooden bridge (now concrete and steel) to Catmon and Tenejeros.

Around our island grew kakawati trees and gumammela bushes which shielded the house from the street across the pond. Twice a year, the kakawatis unfurled their pink blossoms, and from the street the island would look like a pink powder puff. (The cherry blossoms of Tokyo and Washington, D.C. would have paled in comparison to our kakawati blooms which were in brighter pink and lasted longer.) The fallen blossoms decorated the waters of the pond below and adult milkfish would play with them.

In the heat of summer, when the blossoms had ripened into brown shiny pods, you could hear the "tick, tick, tick" of the pods as they burst open in the heat and spread their seeds. The empty pods would fall to the ground where they twisted themselves into pretzels. We collected them for kindling; they burned readily because of the oil in them. With the first rains of May, the seeds would begin to sprout.

One of my regular chores was to cut the branches of two or three kakawati trees for firewood. I would cut and split them and dry them in the sun, and by the time I would be finished-usually after several days-we would have enough firewood for our needs during the rainy season. The kakawati trees took turns in supplying our firewood. The branches cut earlier would grow new ones, so that by the time it was a tree's turn to be cut again, the new branches were big enough.

On two of the trees, thorny bougainvillea vines had climbed, so that these kakawati trees would be covered alternately with pink and red flowers. I could not climb these two trees because of the bougainvillea thorns, so they were spared my bolo and their branches grew really big.

We had many animals on that island. Besides the usual dogs and cats, we had plenty of chickens and ducks (which made the fishponds their playground), pigs, a nanny goat and her four kids, and two horses.

The two horses, a white mare and a bay stallion, were used by my oldest brother to pull the caretela, one in the morning, and one in the afternoon and evening.

Another of my chores was to help feed and care for the horses. And the best chore of all was to take one or the other horse swimming once or twice a week.

A number of our neighbors also had horses, and on the day assigned for bathing the horses, we would gather together and race toward the swimming spot on the river in Tenejeros. We would gallop like cowboys, the hooves pounding on the wooden bridge heard up to the next barrios, past Catmon and on to Tenejeros where the bank sloped gently into the river.

We would let the horses swim for exercise, with us either swimming alongside, clinging to their manes, or riding on their backs. Then we would scrub and brush and rinse the horses and slowly walk back home so as not to raise dust that would cling to their fur.

In a barrio where children, male and female, learned to swim almost as soon as they learned how to walk, the river was a playground. During high tide, the river near the bridge was always full of children, their happy voices echoing in the neighborhood. Like monkeys or Tarzan minus the vines, we would chase one another through the mangrove trees that lined the banks of the river. During low tide, we would either catch shrimps by grubbing for them in the mud, or look for crabs among the mangrove roots. It was easy to find them. They had holes in the mud or on the banks of the river. The claw marks at the hole entrance were a sign that a crab was inside. With digging tools and a long pole with an L-shaped piece of steel at the end, we could coax a big crab out of its hole within 30 minutes.

Besides playing games and wrestling matches, we spent most of our time fishing, using hook and line-which to us was also playing. We caught plenty of thumb-sized fish called "biya"; our older brothers caught game fish like tarpon and "bidbid" or "biyang puti." Sometimes, somebody would suggest a picnic, and the girls would cook our catch. They would gather the camote tops, tamarind fruits and other ingredients for sinigang; our mothers provided the rice. We would eat from banana leaves under a tree, and the food, to me, never tasted more delicious-until now, even when I am just thinking about it.

How I wish progress had not changed Malabon.


Copyright 2006 Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://news.inq7.net/opinion/index.php?index=2&story_id=72750&col=56

[ramvingar]

Uso ba ang Bed and Breakfast sa RP? Those old houses would make fabulous B&B's or hostels.

[Wonderboy]

^^ Hey there Chot! I saw an old house along Paco that was turned into a Bed and Breakfast (or was it an inn?). Nevertheless, that's a good idea. :)

[overtureph]

At Large : Heritage homes in Bagac

First posted 00:27am (Mla time) April 18, 2006
By Rina Jimenez-David
Inquirer



Editor's Note: Published on page A13 of the April 18, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

THANKS to our friends Noli and Peachy Yamsuan, we spent much of Holy Week in Bagac town in the province of Bataan, northwest of Manila, in an old "bahay na bato" [native stone house] that once stood in Meycauayan town in Bulacan province but has been transplanted -- original hardwood floors, doors, ornately carved lintels, adobe blocks, Machuca tiles and all -- to a small “village” of heritage houses.

The houses, nine of them, can be found in a compound owned by Jerry and Tes Acuzar, who are turning their love for antiques and heritage architecture into a dream project. As they envision it, the Acuzars hope to create a village of old houses and other structures, including a schoolhouse, a town hall, and even a small "kapilya" [chapel] that will bring visitors back to the past and give them a glimpse of how Filipinos lived centuries ago, “before all evidence of it is lost,” says Jerry.

Only a few of the houses in the compound are livable these days, the rest are still in the process of reconstruction, including a huge bahay na bato transplanted from Candaba, Pampanga, a square structure with a tiled roof from Quezon province where President Manuel Quezon is supposed to have stayed, and a small residence with delicate filigree railings that Jerry says he fell in love with when the owners showed him a picture of the original structure. “By the time we got there, the house had already been torn apart,” Jerry recalls. “The owners were getting ready to sell it piecemeal, but when I saw the picture of the house, I decided I wanted to save it.”

While contractors and antique dealers are making good money these days buying old houses, having them torn down and then separately selling the old wood and the architectural features, the Acuzars decided to buy entire houses that they would restore as fully and accurately, using as much of the original material as possible, in their compound.

* * *

“IF YOU had seen the old houses in their original sites, you would not even think they still had a future,” Tes recounts. “Some houses were so dark and dusty inside, with rotting floors and sagging posts you would think they were about to fall down.”

The Acuzars bring a team of carpenters, structural engineers and an architect to document as much of the original structure as possible, to save as much of the original materials as they can, and to guide them when they reconstruct the old houses in Bagac. A contractor himself, Jerry personally checks on the progress of each restoration project, driving down from Balanga where the Acuzars originate. And while bidding for the houses can be intense, they say the owners give them an edge since they promise to recreate the original structure, giving the old worn-down houses new lives.

We managed to wangle a stay in the Meycauayan house through the courtesy of Bataan Bishop Socrates Villegas. Actually, the Yamsuans had been invited to Balanga to cover the Holy Week activities at the cathedral, and we -- our family, as well as another friend, Jesselynn de la Cruz and her daughters -- simply tagged along to take advantage of the long break.

* * *

WE HAD no idea what awaited us as we drove through the narrow, winding streets of the seaside town of Bagac. All Bishop Soc told us was that we would be staying in an “old restored house.” But as we drove down the dusty track and through the rusty iron gates, we couldn’t help but “ooh” and “aah” as we beheld a scene straight out of a historical movie, with antique houses in various stages of completion loosely clustered around a narrow lane.

The ground floor of the Meycauayan house is still to be finished, but the second floor already has three bedrooms and two bathrooms, each with modern amenities. Huge windows with sliding capiz shell panes can be found all over the house, as well as a sturdy wooden floor still bearing old cuff marks.

Across from “our” house was a charming dwelling that had been uprooted from the Tondo district in Manila, distinctive because of the handsome metal awnings above each window and the panes of colored glass.

When they are in Bagac, the Acuzars stay in the first house built in the compound, fashioned from old house parts because they hadn’t yet at the time latched onto the idea of restoring old houses in their entirety. “We love it though because of the wonderful views from the balcony,” shared Tes. “We can see the mountains, the river and even the beach.”

One very warm night, we spotted the Acuzars and their guests dining beneath a grove of trees lit by twinkling light globes, a scene that evoked memories of a more gracious age.

* * *

WHILE we did our share of swimming, boating and just lazing around in the evening, we did find time for Holy Week reflection.

On Good Friday, after the services at the cathedral, we left Balanga town just as the procession of images was starting, but got held up on the way back to Bagac by two other processions. In Bagac, the procession was highlighted by penitents, including a “Christ” figure who staggered through the streets bearing a wooden cross on his back, and what we dubbed “women in black,” female penitents all covered in black (including their faces) and walking barefoot.

On Black Saturday, deciding to leave for Manila early to beat the Easter Sunday crush, we invited ourselves over for breakfast at the “Bahay Pari,” the residence of Bishop Soc. This, too, is a part of the Acuzars’ project, a charming old house from San Miguel, Bulacan, that was transplanted onto a property donated by the Banzon family.

We had thought we were going to Bagac for some peace and quiet and a spot of swimming, but what we hadn’t bargained for was a tantalizing glimpse of a couple’s dream project, one that, we hope, will succeed in taking us back to the past and give visitors a deeper appreciation of our heritage and rich history.



Copyright 2006 Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


http://news.inq7.net/opinion/index.php?index=2&story_id=72858&col=79

[overtureph]

A Spaniard In Ilocos
By Javier Galvan
The Philippine Star 04/16/2006

I don’t know if there really is any connection or if it is merely a coincidence which I somehow came up with so as not to leave my mind restless and without an explanation for the origin of the river’s name. Abra in Spanish means open. More exactly: abrir is to open and abra is the imperative form. "Abra la puerta: open the door."

To open entails something magical; to open is to give life to something that is alive but asleep. Aladdin was sleeping in his lamp until someone rubbed it. The cave remains closed until the magic words are pronounced: "Open Sesame." Beyond the door, beyond the mouth, is another world, another reality.

The Abra River really opens the mountains. She makes a breach on them to meet her destiny in the sea. She does not reach the lowlands of Ilocos by winding like a serpent along the mountains. Rather, she crosses them in a straightforward manner or, if you prefer, the mountains open themselves to allow the river to go to sea.

I did not plan it, it simply happened. It was my birthday and I woke up in Vigan–long, long before I was born. Traveling across time is a good way to fight birthdays. I woke up under the mosquito net of a huge bed. The first light of the morning started to filter across the shells of the capiz that were displayed in an original diagonal pattern, flooding my bedroom with a magical light, like in a movie by J.L. Garci.

Roosters had already crowed, and I had heard the toll of the bells, but I continued sleeping. Now, I heard distant whispers coming from the cathedral: the old doñas were praying the first angelus of the day. But it was definitely the sound of the hoofs of a horse pulling a calesa onto the cobblestones that made me remember that I was about to be fetched to cross a new frontier: to go to Abra.

I raised the mosquito net, jumped out of bed, felt on the soles of my feet the warm caress of the polished narra planks, and slid aside the capiz panes to open the window. I could not help looking out into the street which led to the cathedral. I was mesmerized. A procession of ladies marched solemnly towards the church. They were dressed in flamboyant gowns, wrapped in jewels, escorted by maids carrying umbrellas to protect the porcelain skin of their faces from the first rays of the sun. It was not even a Sunday or a holiday, but just a weekday!

My host had purchased the house some years ago and restored it–keeping the original materials, recovering its splendor and yet providing it with new facilities that make a house comfortable. I hope many people do the same in Vigan.

Breakfast was served in the upper level kucina. I could smell the coffee that a client of my host regularly sent him from Colombia, the longganizas, and the unmatchable Ilocano empanadas.

Vigan houses have two storeys. The stone-walled ground floor serves as a bodega and also as a shelter for the carriages of the house lord. The upper level is where the family lives. High ceilings, shining timber floors, sliding capiz panels that, when opened, make the façade disappear, thus converting the house into a breeze-catching box.

Time has stopped in the interior of these houses. The chairs, the cabinets, the Chinese porcelain, an old piano or a venerable harp, the photographs of ancestors, the old books on the shelves, or even gramophones with a Carlos Gardel record as if it was just played a while ago. One can imagine the balls held in these salas, gentlemen in their barongs or tuxedos, and ladies in maria claras or wearing the latest in Paris fashion. One can imagine the stories of romance that transpired within these walls.

The ancestral houses in Vigan, although somewhat similar, cannot be found in any Spanish region. They probably are more Chinese than Spanish or, if you prefer, a blend of Andalucian and Chinese architecture. In the end, they are very Filipino.

From Vigan, we have to look for the Abra River. She will help to cross the mountains and find the hidden valley where small towns have flourished, sheltered by the mountains. The Abra River will be our guide. She will introduce us to the towns of the valley. We first find the river under the Quirino Bridge. It is a superb landscape which is highlighted by the beauty of the bridge. Abra passes by, completely decided to go to sea: no more windings, no more doubts, straight to its destiny.

Before reaching Abra province we pass by the municipality of Santa. Among the towns in Ilocos Sur there is a Santa Maria, a Santa Lucia, and a Santa Cruz. It seems that Santa was named after Santa Catalina, but for some unknown reason it ended as just Santa. Was it laziness or just practical sense?

Well, Santeños may very well celebrate their fiestas on every Santa something day, which is practically every day of the year. I really regret not having stopped in Santa to visit its small but beautiful church, and to inquire about a long building by the road which seemed to be pretty old. It might have been one of the schools built during the Spanish Era in most of the towns of the Philippines, a long, long time before the Thomasites arrived.

Before heading towards the interior, we ride for a while along the coast, passing by a scenic islet landscape known as Paraiso ni Juan. I wonder who that lucky Juan could be, owner of such a picturesque paradise.

After leaving that paradise, we turn into a countryside of mild and green hills. Contrary to what I expected, not a big effort was needed to crown the mountains from Ilocos and reach Abra province. The road then gently slopes to meet the valley. We find again Abra River, but she is different from when we saw her under Quirino Bridge. Now she is a thread of water in a huge bed of sand flanked by mountains. More than a continuous river, she appears like a succession of pools. Quiet land. Few people, few houses. I guess the landscape has not changed very much during the last hundred years. For a moment I think that I’m traveling into the plot of Sionil Jose’s "Po-on" and at any moment, I can meet the caravan of the Rosales family in search of freedom.

My first goal is Tayum, a small tidy town that follows the classical urban pattern of almost all Filipino towns, founded during the Spanish Era. Father Floro Bautista the parish priest is waiting for me. He has a special interest in the history of his parish and is fully aware of the importance of the architectural heritage of Tayum.

I have visited hundreds of old churches in the Philippines. Priests are always extremely nice to me, and try their best to facilitate my research. My main problem is to deny their kind invitations to have lunch or merienda. Since I am always rushed, I simply cannot afford to spend hours of daylight in anything other than watching the buildings, taking photos and drawing them. No time for lunch during what my friends call "my church safaris". I instead accept some snacks so as not to disregard those who have treated me so well. Hospitality is an identity sign of the Filipino people.

Facing the big plaza are the main public buildings, the church and the town hall. Although the town was founded in 1626, the current church, devoted to Santa Catalina de Alejandría, was finished in 1829, after nine years of construction under Fr. Domingo de los Reyes. Initially a part of Ilocos, the evangelization of Abra was assigned to the Agustinian friars. Nevertheless, Tayum parish was managed not by the Augustinians as the others in Abra, but by the secular clergy.

The façade is an example of Filipino Baroque architecture with mixtilinear pediment and scrolls. It is articulated by single columns instead of a pair of columns as in most façades of Filipino churches, and crowned by giant jars. The side entrance doors are particularly interesting. Inside, the old retablos have been preserved, something not many churches in the Philippines can boast about.

A number of small chapels (probably fourteen) in the way of the Mexican capillas posas stand along the surroundings of the church, over spilling its territory towards the town. They are the stations of the Via Crucis, niches where the Holy Cross or the image of a saint is placed in each of the stops of Holy Week procession.

The original convent of Tayum was burned. A house belonging to the Cariño family built in 1850 served as the parish priest’s house first and then as a nuns’ convent. It is a two-storey structure from the Spanish Era about to be restored and converted into a museum.

One of the most amazing things one can find in Tayum is the Ambassador Cariño house-museum. An art collector, Mr. Cariño gathered a huge collection of objects from the countries where he was posted. Particularly important is the collection of European art, especially the Delft porcelains. A lover of contemporary art, Mr. Cariño commissioned several artists to reproduce in mosaics upon the fence of his property famous paintings of European masters.

The Bangued Cathedral is not as interesting as the Tayum Church because of the renovations it has suffered. The octagonal belltower and the façade are notorious.

The original convent has been preserved, now converted into a school. The bishop house shelters what might be considered as the Provincial Ecclesiastical Museum. One of the most interesting relics is the Tayum Church baptismal font made out of wood. I know this from my friend Eric Zerrudo, director of the GSIS Museum in Manila, because I could not enter the museum. The priest living now in the house told me that there are two keys to unlock the door of the museum: he had one but the other key was with a seminarian who at that particular moment was in Tagaytay.

Near the cathedral, the ruins of old buildings might be seen as well as an old bridge still in use. All of them are entirely made out of brick.

Fr. Floro had mentioned a Spanish Arch in Bucay. I had no plan to go to Bucay, but after that information, it became a must. And I was really astonished when I got to that small and very quiet town by the river and "discovered" a brick gate with a beautiful stone Lyon and Castile coat of arms on top. That was the entrance to the Casa Real, the Provincial Government building at a time when Bucay was the capital of the province. It was like finding a piece of Intramuros in a remote and lonely place.

My last town to visit was Pidigan, where the old church regarded as unsafe has been abandoned. Although not as monumental as the one in Tayum, its brick walls deserve to be preserved and restored. The church faces a huge plaza, a good example of Spanish colonial urban planning.

The night is falling. The one-day trip to Abra has been more than worthwhile. Only when I was in the back seat of the car did I realize that I was really tired. I must also be hungry.

The men who went ahead of the caravan were wet and they shivered but they, too, marched on, stopping only once in a while to ask from an isolated farmhouse the general direction of the ferry which they would have to board to cross the Agno. Shortly before daybreak, the rain finally lifted and the east was bathed with the mellow light of a new day.

I woke up when I was back in Vigan. My life opens (abre) a new year by the Abra river. It has been indeed a happy birthday.

The author is director of Instituto Cervantes, the Spanish cultural center.


http://philstar.com/philstar/SPECIALSECTIONS200604194607.htm

[overtureph]

As I See It : Dying town and river can still be saved

First posted 00:20am (Mla time) April 19, 2006
By Neal H. Cruz
Inquirer



Editor's Note: Published on Page A14 of the April 19, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

(Continued from Monday)

WHAT is happening to the Metro Manila town of Malabon -- progress actually killing the charm and personality of old towns -- is happening to many other towns in the Philippines, especially those near the urban areas like Metro Manila. Factories, one sign of alleged "progress," have killed the two rivers running through Malabon, as well as many other rivers, including the Pasig. Something should be done to save them while there is still time.

With the death of the rivers also died the many fishponds that Malabon used to be famous for and that gave it its own peculiar beauty and charm, space and fresh air. If you are near a fishpond, the air is always cool and fresh, the wind is always blowing, night and day you hear the wavelets lapping at the banks of the ponds, and you smell the sweet smell of salt water mixed with the smell of the algae that the milkfish feed on.

Now all of that is gone. When the wind blows, all you smell is the stink
of the polluted river; you can't swim in it anymore or you'd die of poisoning. And you don't hear the lapping of the waves in the ponds anymore. In fact, you rarely see any pond anymore; they have been filled up (along with parts of the river) and squatter shanties have been built on them. Shanties and factories have replaced the mangrove stands that used to line both banks of the river, all adding their filth to the already polluted water.

During the town fiesta, there were processions of statues of saints on land and water, with the fluvial parades of the Catholic Church and the Aglipayan Church competing with each other in the beauty and design of their pagodas. On the feast of San Juan, the people took to the rivers again with grand fluvial parades and water games. Now they can't do that anymore. If they went into the river now, it would be like going into an open sewer.

When the rivers overflow their banks during the flood season, the filthy water goes to the streets, into the yards and even into the homes, and stays on and on for days. In the old days, the rivers also overflowed during spring tides, but those were times for merrymaking instead of revulsion because the water was clean. Children played in the water in the streets and yards, and the water went away when the tide went out. Now the streets are flooded when it rains even if the tide is low.

Why is this happening? Because there is no place for the excess water to go. The fishponds have been filled up and converted into subdivisions. Dagatdagatan, which used to be a big beautiful lake that was a catch basin for excess water, was filled up and converted into a housing project, now a growing slum. The river is now shallow because of siltation and can hold less water. Land grabbers are stealing parts of the river, filling them up, building houses on them and having them titled in their names.

The question is: Why did the town's leaders allow this to happen? Why did the succession of mayors and other officials not try to stop the degradation of their once-beautiful town? Why did its people allow it? Instead of fighting its slow decay, many of the old families have left and moved to other more livable places. You can hardly find a restaurant selling genuine pancit Malabon in Malabon anymore. The making of "patis" [fish sauce], for which Malabon used to be famous, is also dying. Now we import fish sauce from Vietnam and Thailand.

A saving grace is that some of the old rich families have been able to preserve their grand old houses on the main street. But there are many others in the process of decay. The National Historical Commission and the national and local governments should help preserve and restore them, as many other countries are doing to their old towns. These restored and preserved towns, especially in the United States and Europe, are now popular tourist spots. (In fact, the government should do more to help preserve the old houses of Vigan and Taal.)

The Tenejeros-Tullahan River, in which many boys of my generation (and our horses) used to spend so many happy times, can still be saved. Both ends of the river open up into the sea. The regular high and low tides can wash out the pollution in due time -- provided the factories and squatters' homes lining its banks stop throwing their effluents and other waste into it. But they will not do that on their own. The national and local governments, and responsible members of the community, have to make them do it.There is a plan to build levees on both banks of the river to prevent it from overflowing its banks. They have been talking about it for a long time, but that's about what they have done so far: talk. There is no sign that the levees would be built soon, although the Japanese government has assured funding. If finally constructed, I think they would be one of the things than can save Malabon.

Even if they are unable to prevent the floods, at least the levees would provide Malabon with two more streets, if they would be built wide enough. That will provide the city with two riverside boulevards running from Manila Bay to Bulacan province. Perhaps Malabon and Valenzuela City can have Riverwalks similar to Manila's Baywalk.

That would achieve a number of things besides boosting domestic tourism. It would stop land grabbers from encroaching on the river, remove squatters from the riverbanks and stop them and factories from discharging their wastes into the river, raise the value of real estate along the river, and therefore increase the income from real estate tax of the two cities. Then an urban renewal program will make them look like real cities.




Copyright 2006 Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


http://news.inq7.net/opinion/index.php?index=2&story_id=72982&col=56

[JAMAICUS]

Senate body approves bills to protect seascapes, landscapes

First posted 08:56pm (Mla time) April 19, 2006
By Veronica Uy
INQ7.net


THE Senate committee on environment and natural resources has approved legislative measures declaring a seascape and a 1,157-hectare forestland in two northern provinces as protected areas.
The committee approved House Bills 4305 and 4420 to protect the Agoo-Damortis seascape and landscape in La Union province, and the Lidlidda-Banayoyo landscape in Ilocos Sur province.

The Agoo-Damortis protected seascape and landscape area, which covers 19 villages in the towns of Agoo, Sto.Tomas, and Rosario, is made up of forests, wetlands, and shorelines.

The Lidlidda-Banayoyo landscape is comprised of 1,157 hectares of forestlands covering several villages in the municipalities of Lidlidda and Banayoyo.

The bills prohibit game hunting, taking of plants, mineral exploration, logging, waste dumping, and settling within the protected areas.

They provide for the establishment of a Protected Area Management Boards (PAMBs) to be composed of representatives from the Department, local government units, concerned communities, and non-government organizations. The PAMBs will manage the protected areas.

Senator Pia Cayetano, head of the committee, said that for years, dynamite use, quarrying, domestic and commercial pollution, and siltation have endangered the marine ecological balance off the coasts of Damortis village in Sto. Tomas town and Rabon village in Rosario town.

Fish cages have contributed to the accumulation of organic wastes and have threatened the survival of endemic marine species in the area, she added.

Cayetano said the immediate enactment of the bills would save Ilocos Region’s last remaining natural sanctuaries.

http://news.inq7.net/breaking/index.php?index=1&story_id=73072

[Wonderboy]

NEWS and ANNOUNCEMENTS
STORIES ABOUT PRESERVING CULTURAL HERITAGE - FIESTAS AND EPHEMERA

With Prof Felipe Jocano, Jr.
April 22, 2006, Saturday, 2-4pm
Fee: Php50.00 for Museum Foundation members
Php100.00 for non-members
Contact Persons: Ms Fanny San Pedro/Ms Joy Victoria/Ms Elvie Magpayo
Contact Details: 6312417/pezseum@skyinet.net
4042685/info@museumfoundationphils.com

June 18, 1677 is the date which the National Historical Institute considers the turning point in the history of fiestas in the country. It was then that King Charles II dispatched a cedula to the Jesuit provincial superior (presumably to the superiors of the other orders also) ordering that each Philippine community have no more than one patron saint for whose festivities the Filipinos were obligated to contribute. Because the contribution was fixed at 3 reales, their efforts went to other items to enhance the fiesta. Filipino creativity and love of celebration gave rise to the particular festive, rich and sweet foods, decorations and ephemeral art. While these items – bamboo arches, colorful buntings and banners, dainty plant-like decorations among others -- are seemingly fleeting, their creation and use build a stronger sense of community, identity, values, etc. -- all of which are part of our intangible cultural heritage.

The Lopez Memorial Museum and Museum Foundation of the Philippines invites you to attend the fourth in the series of Stories about Preserving Cultural Heritage on April 22, 2-4 pm, at the Lopez Library with anthropologist Prof Felipe Jocano, Jr. He discusses fiestas, the decors/designs, and other associated items taking a closer look into their function and value. The speaker is Assistant Professor at the Anthropology Department of the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy of UP Diliman. His areas of expertise and interest are culture and personality, religious system, community studies, culture change and language and culture.

Fee is Php50.00 for Museum Foundation members and Php100.00 for non-Museum Foundation members. The Lopez Memorial Museum is at the ground floor, Benpres Building, Exchange Road corner Meralco Avenue, Pasig City. For more information, call 6312417 or 4042684 or email pezseum@skyinet.net or info@museumfoundationphils.com.

[Wonderboy]

http://img118.imageshack.us/img118/1953/a12jp1.jpg

They say that the only way to save a heritage site is when you build something over it…

[Lili]

^^ Do you think it's still worth to preserve that structure when it looks the way it does now? It's ugly. AsiaTrust should have at least tried to blend its facade with the architectural design of that structure. With the mish mash of its look now, it's not pleasant to the eyes. Even the electrical wires are obstructing the view to appreciate the colonial style of that building/structure.

[Wonderboy]

^^ I brought my friend to the same area a few weeks ago and she said, "It's hideous...really hideous."

[death327]

Regent Theater is supposed to be the oldest theater house outside Metro Manila. cool ha! kaya lang nangananib na magsara dahil d maka compete sa mga sinehan sa malls.

ive also posted a pic of the hosky'n bldg.-home of the hoskyn's and co.-the first dept. store in the phils.

im kinda happy na the gov't is now making moves to save our heritage. three cheers! :cheers:


The government (local or national) or conservationist institution should procure that property and convert that into a museum or a public building.

So much had been destroyed already from Iloilo's grand past... like Cacho building (built by an Italian architect)... Ilonggos should consider the values of these buildings....

[Wonderboy]

Hello everyone,

Ivan Henares, one of the officers of Heritage Conservation Society came up with a partial list of declared structures and sites in the Philippines. Please feel free to add on the list and send it through his website at http://ivanhenares.blogspot.com or you may post it here and I will just send the additional list through his e-mail address or via HCS Yahoogroups.

Thank you.

Sincerely

Wonderboy

------------

Index of Declared Structures and Sites

CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL

This is an attempt to compile all lists of declared structures and sites in the Philippines and make it available to the public via the internet. It's sad that our government agencies do not have an updated and consolidated list available on the net. At the same time, due to their issues with regard to jurisdiction, the National Museum and National Historical Institute, both under the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, maintain their own lists. I wonder why these agencies can't get their acts together and come up with a single agency to take care of declaring all these heritage structures and sites.

The list below is most definitely incomplete. If there are any additions or corrections to the list, please make a comment to this entry. If the heritage site you are adding hasn't been declared, please comment in the other list.

UNESCO World Heritage Sites

1. Baroque Churches of the Philippines
Ilocos Norte: Church of San Agustin (Paoay)
Ilocos Sur: La Asuncion de la Ñuestra Señora Church (Sta. Maria)
Iloilo: Church of Santo Tomas de Villanueva (Miag-ao)
Manila: San Agustin Church and Monastery (Intramuros)
2. Historic Town of Vigan
3. Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras

National Cultural Treasures

Ilocos Region

Burial Caves in Sitio Alabok, Cambali (Buguilin, La Union)
Saints Peter and Paul Church (Calasiao, Pangasinan)
San Agustin Church (Paoay, Ilocos Norte)
San Andres Apostol Church (Bacarra, Ilocos Norte)
San Guillermo de Aquitania Church (Magsingal, Ilocos Sur)
Santa Catalina De Alejandria Church (Luna, La Union)

Cagayan Valley

San Carlos Borromeo Church (Mahatao, Batanes)
San Matias Church (Tumauini, Isabela)
San Raymundo de Peñafort Church (Rizal, Cagayan)
San Vicente Ferrer Church (Dupax, Nueva Viscaya)
Cordillera Administrative Region
Ifugao Rice Terraces (Banaue, Ifugao)
Mummy Caves of Alab (Bontoc, Mountain Province)
Mummy Caves of Kabayan (Kabayan, Benguet)
Mummy Caves of Sagada (Sagada, Mountain Province)
Petroglyphs of Alab (Bontoc, Mountain Province)
Stone Agricultural Calendares of Dap-ay Guiday in Besao (Bontoc, Mountain Province)
Santa Catalina de Alejandria Church (Tayum, Abra)

Central Luzon

San Andres Church (Masinloc, Zambales)
Santiago Apostol Church (Betis, Guagua, Pampanga)
National Capital Region
San Agustin Church (Intramuros, Manila)
Sta. Ana Site Museum (Sta. Ana, Manila)

Southern Tagalog: Calabarzon

Basilica of St. Michael (Tayabas, Quezon)
Immaculate Conception Church (Balayan, Batangas)
Our Lady of Assumption Church (Maragondon, Cavite)
Petroglyphs of the Rock-shelter (Angono, Rizal)
San Gregorio Magno Church (Majayjay, Laguna)
San Ildefonso Church (Tanay, Rizal)
Southern Tagalog: Mimaro
Cathedral of San Jose (Romblon, Romblon)

Bicol Region

San Juan Bautista Church (Tabaco, Albay)

Western Visayas

Petroglyphs in the Caves of the Tao't Bato Area (Quezon, Palawan)
San Joaquin Church (San Joaquin, Iloilo)
Santa Monica Church (Pan-ay, Capiz)

Central Visayas

Patrocinio de Sta. Maria Church (Boljoon, Cebu)
San Agustin Church (Bacong, Negros Oriental)
San Isidro Labrador Church (Lazi, Siquijor)
San Pedro Apostol Church (Loboc, Bohol)

Eastern Visayas

Immaculate Conception Church (Guiuan, Samar)
Zamboanga Region
Fort Pilar (Zamboanga City)

Northern Mindanao

Immaculate Conception Church (Jasaan, Misamis Oriental)
San Juan Bautista Church (Jimenez, Misamis Occidental)

Caraga Region

Balangays in the Vicinity of Butuan (Butuan City, Agusan del Norte)
Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao
Karim Ul-Makhdum Mosque (Simunul, Tawi-tawi)

National Shrines
(Pambansang Dambana)

Aklan

Kalantiaw Shrine (Batan)

Antique

General Leandro Fullon National Shrine (Hamtic)

Bataaan

Mt. Samat National Shrine (Mt. Samat)

Batangas

Apolinario Mabini Shrine (Tanauan)

Bulacan

Casa Real Shrine (Malolos)

Camarines Sur

Jose Barlin Monument (Baao)

Cavite

Baldomero Aguinaldo Shrine (Kawit)
Corregidor (Corregidor Island)
Emilio Aguinaldo Shrine (Kawit)

Cebu

Liberty Shrine/Site of the Battle of Mactan (Lapu-lapu City, Mactan)

Ilocos Norte

Artemio Ricarte Shrine (Batac)
Gregorio Aglipay National Shrine (Batac)
Juan Luna Shrine (Badoc)

Ilocos Sur

Tirad Pass National Shrine (Del Pilar)

Iloilo

Balantang Memorial Cemetery Shrine (Jaro, Iloilo City)

Laguna

Paciano Rizal Shrine (Los Banos)
Rizal Shrine (Calamba)

Leyte

Leyte Landing Site (Palo)

Metro Manila

Andres Bonifacio National Shrine (Mehan Gardens, Manila)
Andres Bonifacio Shrine (P. Burgos cor Concepcion, Manila)
Fort Santiago Freedom Shrine/Dambana ng Kalayaan (Intramuros)
Intramuros and its Walls (Manila)
Libingan ng mga Bayani National Shrine (Taguig City)
Mabini Shrine (Pandacan, Manila)
Pinaglabanan Memorial Shrine (San Juan)
Quezon Memorial Shrine (Quezon City)
Rizal Shrine (Fort Santiago, Manila)

Tarlac

Capas Prisoners-of-War Memorial Shrine (Capas)
Southern Leyte
Limasawa Shrine (Limasawa)
Tawi-tawi
Shiek Karimol Makhdum Shrine (Tandu Banak, Sibutu)
Zamboanga del Norte
Rizal Shrine (Dapitan City)

National Historical Landmarks

(Pambansang Palatandaang Makasaysayan)

Ilocos Region

Bacarra Church (Bacarra, Ilocos Norte)
Cape Bojeador Lighthouse National Historical Landmark (Burgos, Ilocos Norte)
Old Casa Real and Provincial Capitol (Lingayen, Pangasinan)
Paoay Church (Paoay, Ilocos Norte)
Santa Maria Church (Sta. Maria, Ilocos Sur)

Cagayan Valley

Tumauini Church (Tumauini, Isabela)
Cordillera Administrative Region
Teodoro Brillantes House (Tayum, Abra)

Central Luzon

Abucay Church Historical Landmark (Abucay, Bataan)
Aquino Ancestral House (Concepcion, Tarlac)
Barasoain Church Historical Landmark (Malolos, Bulacan)
Birthplace of Pres. Diosdado P. Macapagal (Lubao, Pampanga)
Church of Baler Historical Landmark (Baler, Aurora)
Lubao Church Historical Landmark (Lubao, Pampanga)
Malolos Heritage Town (Malolos, Bulacan)
Marcelo H. del Pilar Historic Landmark (Bulacan, Bulacan)
Pres. Ramon Magsaysay Historical Landmark (Castillejos, Zambales)

National Capital Region

San Agustin Church (Intramuros, Manila)
Zamora Historical Landmark (Pandacan, Manila)
Army and Navy Club Historical Landmark (South Boulevard, Ermita, Manila)
Elks Club Building Historical Landmark (Roxas Boulevard, Ermita, Manila)
Luneta Hotel Historical Landmark (Ermita, Manila)
Metropolitan Theater Historical Landmark (Liwasang Bonifacio, Ermita, Manila)
San Sebastian Church Historical Landmark (Quiapo, Manila)
Malacañang Palace Historical Landmark (San Miguel, Manila)
Mausoleo de los Veteranos de la Revolucion Historical Landmark (North Cemetery, Santa Cruz, Manila)
Mehan Gardens Historical Landmark (Manila)
Birthplace of Antonio Luna (San Nicolas, Manila)
Manila Hotel (Ermita, Manila)
Cry of Pugadlawin Historical Landmark (Bahay Toro, Quezon City)
Chapel of the Holy Sacrifice (UP Diliman, Quezon City)
P. Burgos Elementary School Historical Landmark (P. Burgos Street, Pasay City)
Birthplace of Felix Manalo Historical Landmark (Tipas, Taguig, City)

Southern Tagalog: Calabarzon

Bonifacio Trial House (Maragondon, Cavite)
Calamba Church Historical Landmark (Calamba, Laguna)
Casa Hacienda and its Environs, the Site of the Tejeros Convention (Rosario and Gen. Trias, Cavite)
Cuartel de Sto. Domingo (Sta. Rosa, Laguna)
Leon Apacible Historical Landmark (Taal, Batangas)
Marcela Agoncillo Historical Landmark (Taal, Batangas)
Miguel Malvar Historical Landmark (Sto. Tomas, Batangas)
Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery Historical Landmark (Nagcarlan, Laguna)
Pila Historical Landmark/Historic Town Center of Pila (Pila, Laguna)
Site of the Battle of Alapan Historical Landmark (Imus, Cavite)
Taal Historical Landmark/Historic Town Center of Taal (Taal, Batangas)
Taal Church Historical Landmark (Taal, Batangas)
Vicente Manansala Historical Landmark (Binangonan, Rizal)

Southern Tagalog: Mimaro

Batle Site of Pulang Lupa Memorial (Torrijos, Marinduque)
Cathedral of Boac Historical Landmark (Boac, Marinduque)

Bicol Region

Holy Rosary Minor Seminary Historical Landmark (Naga City, Camarines Sur)
Filipino-Japanese Friendship Historical Landmark (Mt. Isarog, Pili, Camarines Sur)
Quipayo Church Historical Landmark (Calabanga, Camarines Sur)
Wenceslao Vinzons Historical Landmark (Vinzons, Camarines Norte)

Western Visayas

Church of Santa Monica Historical Landmark (Pan-ay, Capiz)
Rosendo Mejica Historical Landmark (Iloilo City)
Dumangas Church Historical Landmark (Dumangas, Iloilo)
Ermita Chapel Historical Landmark (Dumangas, Iloilo)
Santa Barbara Church and Convent Historical Landmark (Santa Barbara, Iloilo)
Jaro Belfry Historical Landmark (Jaro, Iloilo City)
Miagao Church Historical Landmark (Miag-ao, Iloilo)
Molo Church Historical Landmark (Molo, Iloilo City)
Barotac Nuevo Church, Convent and Cemetery Historical Landmark (Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo)
Plaza Libertad National Historical Landmark (Iloilo City)
General Juan Araneta Historical Landmark (Bago City, Negros Occidental)
Silay City Historical Landmark (Silay City, Negros Occidental)
Gen. Aniceto Lacson Historical Landmark (Talisay City, Negros Occidental)
Negros Occidental Provincial Capitol (Bacolod City, Negros Occidental)
Cape Melville Lighthouse Historical Landmark (Cape Melville, Balabac, Palawan)
Iwahig Penal Prison and Farm Historical Landmark (Puerto Princesa City, Palawan)

Central Visayas

Silliman University Historical Landmark (Dumaguete City)
Church and Convent of Santo Niño (Cebu City)
Matilde Bradford Memorial Church Historical Landmark (Cebu City)
Sergio Osmeña House Historical Landmark (Cebu City)
Bank of the Philippine Islands Historical Landmark (Cebu City)
Casa Gorordo Historical Landmark (Cebu City)
Boljoon Church Historical Landmark (Boljoon, Cebu)
Church of San Guillermo de Aquitania Historical Landmark (Dalaguete, Cebu)
Church of Nuestra Señora de la Concepcion Historical Landmark (Argao, Cebu)
Bagacay Point Lighthouse Historical Landmark (Liloan, Cebu)
Baclayon Church Historical Landmark (Baclayon, Bohol)
San Pedro Apostol Church Historical Landmark (Loboc, Bohol)
Church of the Most Holy Trinity Historical Landmark (Loay, Bohol)
Lazi Church and Convent Historical Landmark (Lazi, Siquijor)

Eastern Visayas

MacArthur Landing Site (Palo, Leyte)
Maasin Church (Maasin City, Southern Leyte)

Zamboanga Region

Dapitan Plaza Historical Landmark (Dapitan City, Zamboanga del Norte)
Northern Mindanao
Fuerte de la Concepcion y del Triunfo Historical Landmark (Ozamiz City, Misamis Occidental)

Davao Region

Site of the Church of the Immaculate Conception of Tamontaka Historical Landmark (Cotabato City)
Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao
Torogan House (Pompongan-a-Marantao, Marawi City)
Shiek Karimol Mahkdum Mosque (Tubig Indangan, Simunul, Tawi-tawi)

National Heritage Houses

Ilocos Region

Syquia Mansion (Vigan, Ilocos Sur)

Central Luzon

Dayrit House (San Fernando, Pampanga)
Henson-Hizon House (San Fernando, Pampanga)
Hizon-Singian House (San Fernando, Pampanga)
Lazatin House (San Fernando, Pampanga)
Southern Tagalog: Calabarzon
Luz-Katigbak House (Lipa City, Batangas)
Ylagan-de la Rosa House (Taal, Batangas)
Goco Ancestral House (Taal, Batangas)

Western Visayas

Lopez Heritage House (La Paz, Iloilo City)
Roca Encantada Heritage House (Buenavista, Guimaras)
Victor Fernandez Gaston Heritage House (Silay City, Negros Occidental)
Carlos Arceo Ledesma Heritage House (Silay City, Negros Occidental)
Jose Benedicto Gamboa Heritage House (Silay City, Negros Occidental)
Angel Araneta Ledesma Heritage House (Silay City, Negros Occidental)
Benita Jara Heritage House (Silay City, Negros Occidental)
Amelia Hilado Flores Heritage House (Silay City, Negros Occidental)
Alejandro Amechazura Heritage House (Silay City, Negros Occidental)
Jose Corteza Locsin Heritage House (Silay City, Negros Occidental)
Augusto Hilado Severino Heritage House (Silay City, Negros Occidental)
Severino Building/Heritage House (Silay City, Negros Occidental)
Manuel Severino Hofileña Heritage House (Silay City, Negros Occidental)
Claudio Hilado Akol Heritage House (Silay City, Negros Occidental)
Manuel de la Rama Locsin Heritage House (Silay City, Negros Occidental)
Felix Tad-y Lacson Heritage House (Silay City, Negros Occidental)
Soledad and Maria Montelibano Lacson Heritage House (Silay City, Negros Occidental)
Kapitan Marciano Montelibano Lacson Heritage House (Silay City, Negros Occidental)
Vicente Conlu Montelibano Heritage House (Silay City, Negros Occidental)
Maria Ledesma Golez Heritage House (Silay City, Negros Occidental)
Jose Ledesma Heritage House (Silay City, Negros Occidental)
Teodoro Morada Heritage House (Silay City, Negros Occidental)
Generoso Reyes Gamboa Heritage House (Silay City, Negros Occidental)
Digna Locsin Consing Heritage House (Silay City, Negros Occidental)
German Lacson Gaston Heritage House (Silay City, Negros Occidental)
Modesto Ramirez Hojilla (Carlos Javelosa Jalandoni) Heritage House (Silay City, Negros Occidental)
Dr. Jose Corteza Locsin Heritage House (Silay City, Negros Occidental)
Bernardino Lopez Jalandoni Ancestral House (Silay City, Negros Occidental)
German Locsin Unson Heritage House (Silay City, Negros Occidental)
Delfin Ledesma Ledesma Heritage House (Silay City, Negros Occidental)

Central Visayas

Clarin Heritage House (Loay, Bohol)
Northern Mindanao
Macapagal-Macaraeg Heritage House (Iligan City, Lanao del Norte)

National Historical Site

Biyak-na-Bato Historic Site (San Miguel, Bulacan)
Fort San Felipe Historical Site (Cavite City, Cavite)
Rizal Park (Bagumbayan) Historical Site (Rizal Park, Manila)
Pamitinan Cave Historic Site (Sitio Wawa, San Rafael, Rodriguez, Rizal)
Birthplace of Claro M. Recto Historical Site (Tiaong, Quezon)

National Monument

Jose Rizal National Monument (Rizal Park, Manila)
Bonifacio National Monument (Caloocan City Rotonda)
Jose P. Laurel Monument (Santo Tomas, Batangas)

Classified Historic Structures
Colonial Churches and Other Houses of Worship

NATURAL

The Summary of Conservation Areas below is taken from the book The National Parks and Other Wild Places of the Philippines and includes both protected areas known to be presently operational as well as those in the process of being established. The list Major Wetlands comes from the Society for the Conservation of Philippine Wetlands.

UNESCO World Heritage Sites

1. Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park
2. Tubbataha Reef Marine Park

RAMSAR Wetlands of International Importance

1. Agusan Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary (Agusan del Sur)
2. Naujan Lake National Park (Oriental Mindoro)
3. Olango Wildlife Sanctuary (Cebu)
4. Tubbataha Reef National Marine Park (Palawan)

National Parks and other Protected Areas
Summary of Conservation Areas

Luzon

Bataan Natural Park (Bataan)
Batanes Protected Landscapes and Seascapes (Batanes)
Bulusan Volcano National Park (Sorsogon)
Hundred Islands National Recreation Area (Pangasinan)
Mayon Volcano National Park (Albay)
Mount Arayat National Recreation Area (Pampanga)
Mount Banahaw National Park (Laguna and Quezon)
Mount Data National Park (Mountain Province)
Mount Isarog National Park (Camarines Sur)
Mount Makiling Forest Reserve (Laguna and Batangas)
Mount Pulag National Park (Benguet, Nueva Viscaya and Ifugao)
Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park (Isabela)
Quezon National Park (Quezon)
Subic Watershed Forest Reserve (Bataan and Zambales)
Taal Volcano National Park (Batangas)

Mindoro

Apo Reef Marine Natural Park (Occidental Mindoro)
Mount Calavite National Park (Occidental Mindoro)
Mount Malasimbo Bioshpere Reserve (Oriental Mindoro)
Mounts Iglit-Baco National Park (Occidental and Oriental Mindoro)
Naujan Lake National Park (Oriental Mindoro)
Puerto Galera Marine Reserve (Oriental Mindoro)
Sablayan Watershed Forest (Occidental Mindoro)

Western and Central Visayas

Apo Island Protected Landscape and Seascape (Negros Oriental)
Central Cecu National Park (Cebu)
Danjugan Island Marine Reserve and Wildlife Sanctuary (Negros Occidental)
Mount Guiting Guiting Natural Park (Romblon)
Mount Kanlaon Natural Park (Negros Oriental and Occidental)
Northern Negros Forest Reserve (Negros Oriental and Occidental)
Olango Wildlife Sanctuary (Cebu)
Pescador Island Marine Reserve (Cebu)
Southern Negros Forest Reserve (Negros Oriental)
Taklong Island Marine Reserve (Guimaras)

Eastern Visayas and Mindanao

Agusan Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary (Agusan del Sur)
Balicasag Island Marine Reserve (Bohol)
Mount Apo Natural Park (Davao City, Davao del Sur and North Cotabato)
Mount Kitanglad Range Natural Park (Bukidnon)
Mount Malindang National Park (Misamis Occidental)
Pamilacan Island Marine Reserve (Bohol)
Rajah Sikatuna National Park (Bohol)
Siargao Island Protected Landscapes and Seascapes (Surigao del Norte)
Sohoton National Park (Western Samar)
Turtle Island Wildlife Sanctuary (Tawi-tawi)

Palawan

Calauit Island Wildlife Sanctuary (Palawan)
Coron Island (Palawan)
El Nido Marine Reserve (Palawan)
Malampaya Sound (Palawan)
St. Paul's Underground River National Park (Palawan)
Tubbataha Reef National Marine Park (Palawan)
Ursula Island Wildlife Sanctuary (Palawan)

Major Wetlands

Agusan Marsh (Agusan del Sur)
Apo Reef (Occidental Mindoro)
Balayan Bay (Batangas)
Laguna de Bay (Laguna and Rizal)
Buguey Wetlands (Cagayan)
Cabulao Bay (Bohol)
Candaba Swamp (Pampanga and Bulcan)
Lake Duminagat (Misamis Occidental)
Inabanga Coast (Bohol)
Lake Lanao (Lanao del Sur)
Leyte Sab-a Basin (Leyte)
Liguasan Marsh (South Cotabato)
Malampaya Sound (Palawan)
Manila Bay (Cavite and Bataan)
Lake Manguao (Palawan)
Naujan Lake (Oriental Mindoro)
Olango Island (Cebu)
Panguil Bay (Misamis Occidental and Zamboanga del Sur)
Paoay Lake (Ilocos Norte)
Puerto Princesa Subterranean River (Palawan)
Lake Sebu (South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat)
Siargao Island (Surigao del Norte)
Lake Taal (Batangas)
Talabong Island and Bais Bay (Negros Oriental)
Tayabas Bay (Quezon)
Tubbataha Reef (Palawan)
Turtle Islands (Tawi-tawi)
Ulugan Bay (Palawan)

[Wonderboy]

Let's have more parks!
CITY SENSE By Paulo Alcazaren
The Philippine STAR 03/28/2006

I received lots of feedback from readers on the last two pieces on
"pocket parks." Some were new to the term but everyone acknowledged
the lack and need for them in our crowded city. Today, we will look at
a larger swatch of green – a district park in the middle of Makati's
CBD. But first, here's one of the e-mails I received from an expat who
works for an international institution based in Manila.

HM wrote, "I enjoyed your previous articles on landmarks of the 1920s
and 1930s, as well as your latest one on pocket parks. Every time I
fly into NAIA, I notice that Metro Manila is quite low-density and
spread out. I guess the positive side of that is, once high-rise
living becomes entrenched, lots of spaces will be opened up, and these
could be turned to greenery. What do you think? Are Metro Manilans
becoming used to condo living? For instance, I understand that there
are plans to construct, what, 10 new high-rises in the Cubao area.

"By the way, your piece on 1930s landmarks made such an impression on
me that a few weeks ago, I found myself dreaming of the old ice plant
you mentioned. I never saw it in real life, but in my dream, this huge
building kept looming with the word Insular Ice Plant!"

Yes, Manila has nowhere to go but up. High-density and high-rise
living is the wave of the future and is one of the key directions that
will lead to more open space, energy efficiency, less pollution (more
people will require less travel to places for work and play) and
greater urban lifestyle choices.

Condominium towers can sit on landscaped settings at ground level or
gardens can be built at podium levels above carparks and the bustle of
the street (as they plan to do in Cubao). A number of these new-style
developments are towers or long mid-rise blocks of upmarket housing
built around a central green or landscaped courtyard. Serendra at Fort
Bonifacio takes this tack, which follows the success of Ayala Land's
previous development (or re-development) of Greenbelt.

This is where we look at the next type of park – larger than the
pocket parks I featured in the last two weeks. Greenbelt has always
been a landmark site in Makati. It started as the nursery of Ayala
Land in the '60s, with warehouses and offices for the real estate
company's construction division. In the '70s, the nursery was turned
into an extension of the shopping district, with low-rise shops and
restaurants, a supermarket, "Love Bus" station, and the Ayala Museum
built around a one-hectare park.

Greenbelt Park was a hit with employees of the district as well as
residents of the nearby "villages." An aviary was the main draw in the
early years, aside from the popular museum. A lagoon also provided
visual relief from the harshness of the city as well as a venue for
fashion shows and concerts. A Burle Marx (famous Brazilian landscape
architect) type meandering path served thousands of pedestrians
walking from the older shopping center to the CBD. A distinctive
circular chapel (with a Ramon Orlina-designed altar and tabernacle)
was also built and continues to serve people today.

In the late 1990s, the pressure to redevelop the area was immense, yet
the Ayala Corporation sought to conserve this valuable landscape asset
and directed its design team to integrate the park into the
redevelopment. What we see today as the new (and immensely successful)
Greenbelt is the product – actually half of the whole planned
redevelopment – of this enlightened process of urban design.

The original park was intact and even enlarged to almost twice its
original size. Callison Design of Seattle, Washington, and E. Aurelio,
a local landscape architect with extensive international experience,
shaped an amenity. They built on the original green resource and
improved it. A new Ayala Museum was also constructed that had its own
Zen-cum-sculpture garden integrated with the new Greenbelt Park.

The designers accommodated the original pedestrian traffic flows and
increased the capacity with second-level walkways that course
thousands daily through shops, restaurants and even the Ayala Museum.
The new walkways also provide shelter from the sun and rain, though
many still like to walk at ground level under the shade of mature
trees and palms.

Café culture has bloomed, too, in this new Greenbelt. Countless cafés
dot the entire site and restaurants overlook the green, adding value
to the diners' experience. Above the shops and restaurants are
mid-rise residences with their own elevated gardens. A block away,
high-rises are sprouting with direct links to Greenbelt and aerial
views of this green lung. Wonderful!

Water features evolved from the original lagoon into a more engaged
and engaging design that creates the central open space – a landscaped
plaza – for the whole development. Unlike western piazzas, this space
provides shade for coffee drinkers and pedestrians alike with tall
palms, conserved acacias, and modern trellises. The architecture also
incorporates balconies and grand stairs that overlook the space,
further increasing the options for visual and tactile enjoyment.

Greenbelt is a great example of how open green space can add value to
a large district like Makati. Like the Ortigas Park we featured last
week, it shows that landscape has an important place and needed
function in our urban lives and that the investment in green makes
more social, environmental, and even economic profit than most other
developers and local governments are inclined to believe.

Let's build more greenbelts and pocket parks and pretty soon, the
increasing blight that Manila wallows in may be stymied and the
deterioration of the metropolis can hopefully be reversed.
* * *
Feedback is welcome. Please e-mail the writer at
paulo.alcazaren@gmail.com.

[Wonderboy]

Why not join an environmental camp?
First posted 09:38pm (Mla time) April 23, 2006
By Augusto Villalon
Inquirer

"WILD, GREEN SUMMER" IS A perfect vacation activity that parallels
Earth Day Network, an NGO that marks the month of April with
environmental activities planned to inspire young Filipinos to care
for their environment.

Innovative tour organizer Island Caravan introduces Wild, Green
Summer, an outstanding summer program for Filipino youth ages 16-21
that combines travel, sports and environmental activities.

The environmental camps running four to six days take urban youth out
of the cities to explore nature in Agusan del Norte or Sorsogon,
exposing them to the stunning beauty of the Philippine countryside. It
is highlighted by the interactive participation of recognized
environmental or cultural resource persons, who advocate respect and
care for the natural and cultural environments.

In cooperation with the Department of Tourism, Island Caravan provides
guides who supervise the student activity and introduce them to local
officials, environmental NGOs and technical experts from the
Department of the Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) who provide
the learning component of the summer camps.

Camps create awareness and appreciation of the natural environment
through a range of sightseeing and sports activities which include
trekking, rappelling and kayaking.

There is another agenda to the camp. Youth participate in environment
work. During Wild, Green Summer camps, participants plant and
reforest, seed fish in lakes, clean up beaches, or perform whatever
task is necessary to bring Nature and man into harmony.

Instead of classroom modules, community immersion allows participants
to interact with local officials, scientists, fishermen and farmers
who provide personal insights into rural life and its environmental
responsibilities which ensure the continuation of the people's
nature-based livelihood.

In a camp atmosphere of fun and camaraderie, participants learn
factual and hard lessons on respect of Nature, ultimately evolving
into environmental warriors.

Conquest

Sorsogon Conquest begins in Legazpi, then continues to the Cagsawa
ruins and other cultural sites during the five-day tour, then on to
the PNOC Geothermal Plant where participants are introduced to the
facility. They will be billeted there.

From there, they will do forest treks together with DENR officials and
visit a bat sanctuary, springs and waterfalls.

After meeting villagers at the Maharang Village Hot Springs, they will
be accompanied by Protected Area Management Board officials to seed
Bulusan Lake and to replant mangroves at a reforestation project.

The camp ends in Sorsogon, from where participants take the overnight
bus back to Manila.

Island Caravan's four-day Agusan Adventure Feat links participants
with local DENR officials who brief them on the environmental
importance of the vast Agusan Marsh.

Historians introduce the cultural magnitude of the marsh area,
pointing out the ancient balanghai, proving the existence of advanced
pre-Hispanic civilization in the area.

Sports activities organized in the environmentally sensitive locale
include trekking, camping, climbing, rappelling, caving, and lessons
on the single-rope technique.

Departure is from Butuan after a visit to the balanghai artifacts in
the museum.

Wild, Green Summer is only one of the novel tourism offerings by
Island Caravan. Espousing responsible tourism, the company's offerings
present an authentic view of the Philippines.

Locals (residents, students, cultural or natural experts) from the
host destinations take visitors through their home grounds with
first-hand familiarity. There are presentations by expert historians,
cultural and environmental workers knowledgeable about the resources
in the area.

Island Caravan tours are designed as personal, meaningful encounters
with Philippine life, an approach that radically differentiates this
company from other tour operators.

Island Caravan also organizes walking tours in urban areas (Vigan,
Manila, Iloilo) or special weekend culinary-cultural-historical tours
in Southern Tagalog.

Island Caravan tours are extraordinary experiences, responsible
tourism offerings of specialized tours-historic, cultural, culinary,
sports, environmental, trekking, or hiking.

Upon request the agency can tailor special tours to specific
requirements of large or small groups.

This summer, try discovering the Philippines for what it really is.
See the authentic Philippines not as a tourism product packaged in
slick, commercial tourist-trap events for the mass traveler.

Island Caravan summer departures are: Sorsogon Conquest, April 29-May
3; North Luzon Rediscovery, May 13-15; Agusan Adventure, May 25-28.

E-mail bgozun@hotmail.com, sagip_pasig@yahoo.com or skoal@skyinet.net.
Call 8967569 or 8961910; fax 8961893.

E-mail the author at afvillalon@hotmail.com

[Wonderboy]

Below are a few weblinks on heritage conservation:

Ivan About Town http://ivanhenares.blogspot.com
HCS http://preservephilippineheritage.blogs.friendster.com
Indung Kapampangan http://cityofsanfernando.blogspot.com
ICOMOS Philippines http://icomosphilippines.blogspot.com
The Gabaldon Legacy http://gabaldon.blogspot.com
Old Manila Walks http://oldmanilawalks.blogspot.com

[Wonderboy]

A few photos of old houses along R. Hidalgo Street in Quiapo, Manila

http://img272.imageshack.us/img272/6907/ch30dr.jpg

http://img272.imageshack.us/img272/278/ch41al.jpg

http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/6479/ch52hm.jpg

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/5890/ch61xl.jpg

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/6341/ch78eo.jpg

[Wonderboy]

Not all houses in Quaipo are dilapidated and derelict. In fact, Bahay Nakpil located at Calle Barbosa (now Bautista St.) stands out and serves as a prime example of a well-maintained century-old house:

http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/2519/bn10xr.jpg

http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/9919/bn21ve.jpg

http://img126.imageshack.us/img126/7127/bn34xk.jpg

http://img126.imageshack.us/img126/5821/bn41ig.jpg

http://img126.imageshack.us/img126/3109/bn53hh.jpg

http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/5217/bn69iy.jpg

If you would like to visit Bahay Nakpil, please call:

Ms. Tessie Obusan at 734941 or 7048955
Bahay Nakpil Bautista
432 A. Baustista St. (formerly Barbosa), Quiapo, Manila

[Wonderboy]

And beside Bahay Nakpil, a beautiful old house is rotting away…

http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/2421/bx10nn.jpg

http://img126.imageshack.us/img126/696/bx26jx.jpg

http://img126.imageshack.us/img126/2245/bx36xh.jpg

[overtureph]

A few photos of old houses along R. Hidalgo Street in Quiapo, Manila

http://img272.imageshack.us/img272/6907/ch30dr.jpg

I used to pass this house a couple of years ago. When the window was open, there was this old lady that would look outside the window. Is this the Zaragoza house?

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/6341/ch78eo.jpg

I think this is the Paterno house. I used to pass Hidalgo St. and look at the old houses and sometimes peer inside those huge doors which seems to open into a courtyard which where paved in piedra china. There are also some old houses behind San Sebastian church.

[overtureph]

And beside Bahay Nakpil, a beautiful old house is rotting away…

http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/2421/bx10nn.jpg

http://img126.imageshack.us/img126/696/bx26jx.jpg

http://img126.imageshack.us/img126/2245/bx36xh.jpg

I've been to the Nakpil house and beside it there was also this beautiful house which seems to be in a state of decay. It must have been an accesoria. In the midst of squalor, there are still some jewels to be found. If only something could be done in restoring and preserving this window to our past.

[Wonderboy]

^^ That's right Overtureph. The curator of Bahay Nakpil Museum showed me a photo of the interior of Paterno house (the one with a courtyard).

[Animo]

I've been to the Nakpil house and beside it there was also this beautiful house which seems to be in a state of decay. It must have been an accesoria. In the midst of squalor, there are still some jewels to be found. If only something could be done in restoring and preserving this window to our past.

I agree with you overtureph. I'd like to post this message from josepepe and it seems in order to preserve these windows of our past we need to understand it fully with the language of our ancestors in those times.

---

The point is, and I will repeat it again. By marginalizing the
Spanish language and making it foreign, it also created the
disconnect by Filipinos or the natives, from appreciating its
culture, which is mestizaje and hispanic.

This is the tragedy that has happened and why our visible historical
heritage are deteriorating. We've emphazised too much on culture
based on pre-hispanic village life at a time when there's no country
to speak of. I dont disregard the importance of pre-hispanic village
communities but the progression of the Filipino people did not stop
there. It has evolved in its social organization but because of the
interruption that link has been weakened severely.

The disconnect that has happened ties in with everything such as the
servile attitude to anything foreign, or the opposite, which is the
irrational xenophobia by the tagalistas and the myth making
by "filipinos" because they were taught to reject its own culture
by the very people who were supposed to preserve it.

We cannot forgo and eliminate the Spanish language out of our lives
without destroying what has been built for centuries. This is the
crux of the matter and why our progess has been stunted because we
do not know who we are.

Its time to wake up and claim our own destiny according to our rules
and according to our realities both from the totality of our
historical past and our hopes towards the future.

If not we will continue being in the pits until we will not have a
country that's truly ours. Simple as that.

I hope this explains why I insist on reviving the Spanish language
and make it relevant to our lives.

josepepe

[overtureph]

Tuesday Group pays tribute to Marian month

First posted 11:34pm (Mla time) April 30, 2006
By Jessica Jalandoni-Robillos
Inquirer



Editor's Note: Published on page C3 of the May 1, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

MAY IS THE MONTH OF flowers and the Virgin Mary. It's also the month of the Santacruzan processions, in which the women brave the infernal heat in order to parade in elaborate gowns to dramatize the historic discovery of the Cross by St. Helene, the mother of the emperor Constantine, an elaborate dramatization that has captured the popular religious imagination across the centuries.

Not all Catholics, however, express their Marian devotion through the flores de mayo or the Santacruzan. The Tuesday Group of artists, so named because the members meet every Tuesday to sketch and to discuss art currents, honors Mary through an exhibit dubbed "Contemporary Marian Expressions."

The show, co-presented by the Manila Archdiocesan Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church (MACC), will open tomorrow at 5: 30 p.m. the Manila Archdiocesan Museum on the third floor of the Arzobispado in Intramuros.

It is fitting that the group pay tribute to the woman who is hailed, just
like Tuesday's child, as "full of grace." Indeed the exhibit showcases the graceful results of their labors. In a collection consisting of Mother and Child genre works and varied images of the Filipino woman, not only do they extol the purity and poignance of motherly love, but pay homage to womankind as well.

The montage, which may also serve as advanced Mother's Day treat, features pieces by Angel Cacnio, Jun Martinez, Elmer Gernale, Ton Raymundo, Al Perez, Menchu Arandilla, Ferdie Cacnio, Loreto Racuya, Fernando Sena, Ernie Patricio, Nards Miranda, Bing Siochi, Mardonio Cempron, Nick Masangcay, Rona Chua, Waldz Villanueva and many more.

The Tuesday Group of Artists used to meet for sketching sessions every Wednesday at the NCC Building under the late Dean Josè Joya. After Joya's death in 1995, some members organized themselves and continued meeting every Tuesday. They now hold sketching sessions every Tuesday afternoon at the CBCP Canteen in Intramuros. The weekly sessions give art enthusiasts the chance to sit with 30 or more artists and take home 15 artworks at very friendly prices.

In connection with the exhibit, the commission is also sponsoring a series of lectures on the visual representations of Mary.

Rev. Fr. Isidro C. Abaño, O.P., director of the the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Museum of Arts and Sciences, will speak on "Philippine Iconography of Mary"; and Professor Regalado Trota Josè renowned author, historian and lecturer in the Cultural Heritage Studies program of UST, will lecture on "The Virgin in Philippine Ivory Art."

The lectures will be held May 3, 4:30 p.m. at the Conference Room of the Arzobispado de Manila, Intramuros, Manila. Attendance is limited. Call 5245062 for reservations.



Copyright 2006 Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://news.inq7.net/lifestyle/index.php?index=1&story_id=74224

[Hawayano]

@ Wonderboy: glad to see that the old Quiapo homes are still there (thanks to your pics, I was a bit relieved, even). The Nakpil house is a prime example of a successful restoration, and yes, that old (older?) one next door to Nakpil's is a treasure under layers of grime and neglect. Is the street still called Calle Barbosa? And is there still a santero workshop in the zaguan of the Nakpil house? Sorry to ask so many questions, but it was great to see the pics! I remember walking through that huge old home that you mentioned with the two courtyards paved in piedra china, too. Thanks so much!
:)

[JAMAICUS]

Rebuild Maestranza Wall immediately, says Gordon

With the release of R251 million from the Japanese government, Sen. Richard J. Gordon called on the Department of Tourism (DoT) and the Intramuros Administration yesterday to immediately rebuild the Maestranza Wall, the only remaining part of Intramuros’ external walls that has yet to be rebuilt.

In September 2003, Gordon, then Tourism secretary, met with Japanese Ambassador Toshiyuki Takano and obtained from his government a grant of million for the restoration for the wall, which was destroyed in World War 2.

The restoration effort was temporarily delayed due to some legal constraints. The DoT recently wrote Gordon that the legal constraints have been resolved and the funds have been released.

"I’m elated. It took two-and-a-half years to get the money released, but now DoT and the Intramuros Administration have to get that wall built correctly and immediately," Gordon said.

"Rebuilding the Maestranza Wall can allow us to develop Intramuros further, and develop the banks of the Pasig River like Clarke and Boat Quay in Singapore, creating greater incentive to clean up the aorta of Metro Manila. It has been a long time dream of mine to see the Intramuros become like the Smithsonian Museum of the United States. We need to have Intramuros rebuilt to as the country’s old town, its history town, to celebrate our history and culture as a people. Intramuros must become a center for our national culture, with museums, theaters, institutes, and schools celebrating our identity as Filipinos with our diversity in religion and culture, paying tribute to our heritage from Catholic Spain, the United States, and Islam," Gordon said.


http://www.mb.com.ph/issue
s/2006/05/01/MTNN2006050162812.html

[Hawayano]

I don't really get it--Gordon's plan that is. He seems to prioritize so urgently the rebuilding of the walls along Maestranza (Cortina del Rio) that were removed in the early years of the American occupation. However, how would this affect the riverwalk and ferry landings that are under construction along the same bank of the Pasig? I would assume that he plans to rebuild the huge old baluarte that once surrounded the former Aduana building--this would mean that he's have to break open the new riverwalk promenade to allow the rebuilt bulwark its same footprint where it jutted into the river.

Okay, so my point is, how does he foresee this wall project as a tourism-generating project? I can understand the historic authenticity value, but to me, more practical application could be achieved by rebuilding or rehabilitating restored civilian-use structures, such as San Ignacio Church, old Ateneo, Aduana or Ayuntamiento. At least these could provide more variations in people-friendly usage than would a defensive fortified wall at this time.

It seems that the greater portion of the walls has been beautifully restored, so why shouldn't it be time to turn attention toward work on structures inside the walls? More intramural areas could be rebuilt along the same theme as the Casa Manila block (hotels, restaurants, shops, galleries). So in regard to his promoting this project, does Mr. Gordon happen to have any other special interests at hand? Please enlighten me if I'm totally off track--I'm just wondering why his sudden interest in Intramuros...

[JAMAICUS]

^^ What are you talking about "Sudden intrest"? He has been wanting this since he had been seated to the DOT office.

[Hawayano]

Okay, pardon my error on that...so back to my question: what's so special about the Maestranza walls that'll draw in the tourists as he alleges?

[JAMAICUS]

^^ It's near Pasig right? I think he wants a Bay Walk like area there yet with that Spanish Colonial feeling so more tourists can be lured to Intramuros .I think it will involve massive cleaning and a ferry...

[Hawayano]

Oh, I see--yes, that has visual potential if done right with proper period lighting and pavement, etc. Hopefully it will also spur more aggressive enforcement of the river clean-up (Pasig waters still stink up a storm). I'm envisioning the quays along the Ile de la Cite on the Seine near Notre Dame de Paris--I know Manila can accomplish a similar effect if the govt. and pvt. sectors put their collective resources together.

[Wonderboy]

@ Wonderboy: glad to see that the old Quiapo homes are still there (thanks to your pics, I was a bit relieved, even). The Nakpil house is a prime example of a successful restoration, and yes, that old (older?) one next door to Nakpil's is a treasure under layers of grime and neglect. Is the street still called Calle Barbosa? And is there still a santero workshop in the zaguan of the Nakpil house? Sorry to ask so many questions, but it was great to see the pics! I remember walking through that huge old home that you mentioned with the two courtyards paved in piedra china, too. Thanks so much!
:)

Hello Hawayano! :wave:

Unfortunately, Calle Barbosa is now Bautista Street (I'm assuming it's a tribute to Nakpil Baustista though I'm not sure when the street name was changed. On a lighter note, the santero workshop is still there. I wish I took more pictures but the battery died on me again! :)

[Wonderboy]

http://photos.friendster.com/photos/20/81/3291802/8261448313103m.jpg

Hello everyone! The HCS is planning a youth chapter summit to get all
the student chapters together and start up some new ones. At the
moment, we have a school-recognized chapter in UP with Jeffrey "Foom"
Cobilla as president, and two chapters in the making in Adamson headed
by Jeremy Badong and UST headed by Manuel Hermano.

If you want to spearhead the creation of an HCS chapter in your
school, please reply to this e-mail so we could contact you.

Thanks!

IVAN ANTHONY S. HENARES
http://ivanhenares.blogspot.com

[Animo]

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e132/restardo/Instituto%20Cervantes/endangered_filhispanic_web.jpg

May 16, 2006
7:00 pm

Endangered. Papers from the First International Congress on Fil-Hispanic Architecture

The book is a selection of the papers read at the 1st International Congress on Fil-Hispanic Architecture, held in Manila in November 2002. More than 30 specialists on architectural heritage participated in the Conference organised by Instituto Cervantes with the collaboration of Asia-Europe Foundation.
Endangered is a new call for attention over the precarious state in which a substantial part of the heritage of the Filipino people is found.

855 T.M. Kalaw St.
1000 Ermita
Tel. 63 2 526 12 82
Fax 63 2 526 14 49
Web site: manila.cervantes.es
Email: cenmni@cervantes.es

[JAMAICUS]

^^ How much is that?

[overtureph]

At Large : Ilocano heritage

First posted 02:12am (Mla time) May 02, 2006
By Rina Jimenez-David
Inquirer



Editor's Note: Published on Page A11 of the May 2, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

LAOAG, Ilocos Norte -- As I write this, the launching of this year’s observance of National Heritage Month is about to take place in Paoay town, with a concert at the famous Paoay Church. The concert will feature world-class pianist Cecile Licad, soprano Alexis Edralin, tenor Lemuel de la Cruz, flutist Christopher Oracion, pianist Mary Anne Espina, and new talent Bianca Montanez, who herself hails from Piddig, Ilocos Norte.

A group of media representatives, officials of the National Heritage Foundation and the National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and their guests made the 14-hour trip by bus from Manila to Laoag. We made a stop in Vigan for lunch at Café Leona, which is famous for its distressed interiors on the ground floor of a grand “bahay na bato” [native stone house] as much as for its Ilocano specialties. Then we spent about an hour walking Vigan’s cobblestone streets, ducking into the many souvenir and antique shops, and heartened by the numerous tourists, most of them locals, taking in the sights.

Upon entering Vigan, I was disheartened at the sight of garish shop signs and a new complex of fast food restaurants on one side of the once-quiet plaza fronting the Vigan Cathedral. One of our party asked a vendor for the location of Café Leona, and when he looked confused, tried to be helpful by mentioning that “it’s the place where they serve Ilocano dishes.” “Ah,” he said, “you can try Max,” referring to the branch of the fried chicken chain. “No,” our companion insisted. “Where do the people of Vigan go for good food?” “Oh,” her informant replied helpfully, “we all eat at Jollibee!”

If for nothing else, the exchange perhaps illustrates the need for such an event as National Heritage Month, if only to ensure that the rich culture of the past persists beyond the present day, and endures for at least the next generation, before it’s swamped entirely by popular culture and mass consumerism.

* * *

UPON arrival at Fort Ilocandia, the massive hotel and resort complex now owned by Chinese interests, we rested awhile in our rooms before heading out for dinner.

Some of us proceeded to Paoay for dinner at Casa Doña Emilia, a small hotel owned by the Diaz family and managed by son Bobby. Just a few months old, Casa Doña Emilia is a charming edifice, designed along tropical-Mexican lines, with a small tinkling fountain greeting you in the open courtyard as you enter.

When we got there, a Diaz daughter, film director Marilou Diaz-Abaya, was on the phone giving instructions to her crew who had lost their way to Paoay. Another daughter, Marissa was busy attending to their guests, including Cecile Licad and her companions led by her local manager Pablo Tariman.

Also booked at the hotel were some Supreme Court justices, including Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban and his wife, who all had taken a break from their duties at the “summer capital” of Baguio to attend the Paoay fiesta and the Licad concert upon the invitation of Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, who hails from Paoay.

Thus talk over dinner shifted from culture and the arts, including the politics behind several controversies bedeviling art circles, to politics itself, as we all rushed to congratulate the “Chief” and express our appreciation for the high tribunal’s fearless decisions of late. The pleasant evening was capped by a “nightcap” of the famous Ilocos empanada, which we were instructed to dip in tart “sukang Iloko” [Ilocos vinegar] to attain the full gustatory experience.

* * *

IN AN ARTICLE in “Music News and Features,” Tariman (who edits the publication and also regularly contributes to the Inquirer on cultural matters) told a very interesting story about an encounter between Licad and a young performer.

“Five years ago,” writes Tariman, “a wisp of a girl named Bianca, from Piddig, Ilocos Norte, traveled seven hours with her father, Esmond, to hear Cecile Licad perform in Tuguegarao City. The two met when the girl asked for an autograph and Licad ended up listening to the girl who happened to be a piano student. And so Licad gave her some advice, like working hard and to find a good teacher.

“She did, in the person of pianist Nita Abrogar Quinto. Within two years, the girl won a place in the National Music Competition for Young Artists and later a concerto competition in Metro Manila.

“If only to recall that meeting in Tuguegarao, Bianca will share the stage with her piano idol.”

* * *

I LOOK forward to seeing these artists, as well as the other performers, at the concert at the Paoay Church to launch National Heritage Month. Might we be witnessing the debut of a promising artist of the same caliber as Licad?

I look forward as well to the rest of our visit to Ilocos Norte -- including tours of Paoay, Sarrat, Batac, San Nicolas and Laoag; and visits to inabel or Ilocano weaving shops, ancestral homes, and of course the Marcos Shrine. The launching of National Heritage Month will be capped with a grand fireworks display by the Paoay Lake, which should provide entertainment to everyone within gaping distance.

Because of the distance from Manila, Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte remain somewhat off the beaten track of domestic tourism. But gradually, local tourists are beginning to widen their reach, with the historic charms of Vigan, the heritage churches of Ilocos Norte, and the beaches of Pagudpud offering compelling attractions. But as they cash in on a possible tourism boom, local governments should also remember that in their eagerness to welcome the hordes, they shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that it is precisely the uniqueness and the storied history of Ilocano heritage that draws in visitors. Protecting, preserving and promoting that heritage is part of their mandate.



Copyright 2006 Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


http://news.inq7.net/opinion/index.php?index=2&story_id=74369&col=79

[overtureph]

Heritage festival opens in Paoay

First posted 11:01pm (Mla time) May 02, 2006
By Cristina Arzadon
Inquirer



Editor's Note: Published on Page A20 of the May 3, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

ALTHOUGH the Paoay Church was inscribed as a world heritage site in 1998, stakeholders are now beginning to realize the need to participate in the conservation of the single, most important historical icon in Paoay, Ilocos Norte.

Residents agree that Paoay is more than just media hype or a business. The town has been placed under the watch of the global community as the home of a world-class pride.

That the country's cultural community has continued to take notice of Paoay was indicated when the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) chose the town as the launching pad of this year's Filipino Heritage Festival on April 30.

In 2003, President Macapagal-Arroyo issued Proclamation No. 439 declaring May as National Heritage Month. This year, the festival showcases the rich Filipino heritage in different provinces to spur public and private support for the preservation of ethnic and cultural roots.

Ilocos Norte Gov. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Paoay Mayor Bonifacio Clemente headed the contingent that welcomed organizers led by the NCCA Heritage Festival committee.

"In these troubled times, it is important to remind all of us how we came to be as a people. By this self-examination, we can trace our roots and understand our direction for the future," Marcos said during the inaugural program.

Church rehab

Part of the festival preparation was restoring the Paoay Church's interior walls through a fund-raising activity that the parish priest, Victor Calma, had initiated. The rehabilitation, however, was not completed in time for the event.

Calma said more funds were needed to complete the work.

Through donations, the interior walls and chambers were coated with white paint and gold linings. Visible fissures on the walls were reportedly plastered according to specifications prescribed by the National Historical Institute (NHI).

It was not clear if the restoration was meant for the festival ceremonies. When funds fell short, it was suspended, leaving the exit ways unpainted.

Preserving the 16th-century European baroque cultural icon also meant closing down the roads around it to heavy vehicles. Only light vehicles were allowed to pass near the church.

Ground movements

Structural engineers who inspected the church in early 2000 noted that ground movements caused by heavy vehicles could disturb the church's foundation.

The two-day launching rites that began on April 30 were uniquely remarkable, too. These were opened by world-acclaimed pianist Cecile Licad in an evening performance inside the spruced-up St. Augustine Church.

Sharing the stage with Licad were tenor Lemuel de la Cruz, soprano Alexis Edralin, flutist GJ Herman Gomez, and assisting pianist Mary Anne Espina.

A surprise performer was young Ilocano pianist Bianca Montañez of Piddig town, who won in the National Music Competitions for Young Artists. Licad is said to have discovered Montañez during her (Licad's) performance in Tuguegarao City in Cagayan in 2004.

Enchanted

Licad and her group enchanted the crowd led by Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban and other Supreme Court justices. They were in town on the invitation of Associate Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales, a Paoay resident and owner of one of the heritage houses.

Organizers and local tourism groups put together a two-day parade of cultural shows and exhibits showcasing the town's famous inabel designs and well-preserved keepsakes.

The group visited three heritage houses whose unique architectural designs had been preserved.

The festival committee reportedly prevailed upon the residents of a bubble-topped octagonal house, an American colonial house, to stop their plans to knock down the structure and replace it with another.

The homeowners had reportedly told the NHI that the colonial house, north of the Paoay Church, had shown structural decay and was in danger of collapsing. Reports said the institute had promised the owners that it would provide funds to restore the house.

Visitors also sampled traditional Ilocano cuisine, such as "imbaliktad" (beef entrails cooked with the sauce from small intestines), "unnok" (freshwater clams), "poki-poki" (mashed broiled eggplant sautéd with ground pork, tomatoes and native onions) and the popular Ilocano longganisa (native sausage).

They visited other heritage houses in San Nicolas, Sarrat and Batac towns.



Copyright 2006 Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


http://news.inq7.net/regions/index.php?index=1&story_id=74458

[Rence]

I don't really get it--Gordon's plan that is. He seems to prioritize so urgently the rebuilding of the walls along Maestranza (Cortina del Rio) that were removed in the early years of the American occupation. However, how would this affect the riverwalk and ferry landings that are under construction along the same bank of the Pasig? I would assume that he plans to rebuild the huge old baluarte that once surrounded the former Aduana building--this would mean that he's have to break open the new riverwalk promenade to allow the rebuilt bulwark its same footprint where it jutted into the river.

Okay, so my point is, how does he foresee this wall project as a tourism-generating project? I can understand the historic authenticity value, but to me, more practical application could be achieved by rebuilding or rehabilitating restored civilian-use structures, such as San Ignacio Church, old Ateneo, Aduana or Ayuntamiento. At least these could provide more variations in people-friendly usage than would a defensive fortified wall at this time.

It seems that the greater portion of the walls has been beautifully restored, so why shouldn't it be time to turn attention toward work on structures inside the walls? More intramural areas could be rebuilt along the same theme as the Casa Manila block (hotels, restaurants, shops, galleries). So in regard to his promoting this project, does Mr. Gordon happen to have any other special interests at hand? Please enlighten me if I'm totally off track--I'm just wondering why his sudden interest in Intramuros...
Amen to that, They should start to rebuilt the Ayuntamiento, Intendencia and San Ignacio !

[lewdsaint]

]Iloilo City Tour: Promoting tourism through heritage
By Janice V. Busil

http://www.thenewstoday.info/2006/05/03/iloilo.city.tour1.jpg http://www.thenewstoday.info/2006/05/03/iloilo.city.tour2.jpg

Iloilo is known for its loving people and for its rich cultural heritage. Along the streets of the city are the huge century-old churches and establishments. Visiting the city is like browsing the pages of history.

"We are very supportive of the projects of ICCB. I know we have a long way to go compared to other tourist destinations in the Philippines. As long as everyone will do their share, Iloilo City will become the next tourist destination in the country," Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas remarked during last Thursday's launching of the Iloilo City Tour.

Treñas was the invited keynote speaker on the launching of the Iloilo City Tour held at the Conference Room of the Department of Tourism (DOT) Regional Office 6.

With the desire to promote tourism in the city of Iloilo, a project was conceptualized and organized by the DOT and the City of Iloilo together with the Iloilo City Convention Bureau (ICCB). Iloilo City Tour targets the local and the foreign tourists alike.

The said project will run for 3 months and will eventually be permanent. "We have to go through product development," Manny Gruenberg of Grand Dame Hotel and JD Cafe explained.

Equipped with a van and a group of competent Tour Guides, Iloilo City Tours started its operation last April 28, 2006. The project will showcase the archaic ancestral houses as well the historical churches in the city. Likewise, it will promote the famous Ilonggo delicacies and crafts.

For only P300, exclusive of food, visitors can indulge in a journey to the past. The guest will assemble in front of the Museo Iloilo before eight in the morning. The 4-hour trip will start at exactly 8:00 am. The van will track down the road northwards passing through the calm yet mystique Iloilo River until it reaches the district of Lapaz, the home of the world-renowned Lapaz Batchoy.

Afterwhich, the van will dissect the busy and spacious street of E. Lopez passing by several rudimentary structures and numerous antique houses. Behold the sight of the elegantly landscaped Nelly's Garden. Peep into the rich colonial past of the city by taking a glimpse of the untouched charm of the Samson Montinola Antillan House, the classic beauty of the Celso Ledesma Mansion, the captivating aura of the Dellota's antiques, and the well-preserved majesty of the Magdalena Jalandoni ancestral house and art museum.

Upon reaching the equally-old Jaro Plaza, the tour will progress to the distinctively panoramic Jaro Metropolitan Cathedral and its peculiar belfry across the street. The visitor will pay homage to the miraculous shrine of the Divine Infant and Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria.

While leaving the district of Jaro, the cradle of the National Hero behind the publication La Solidaridad, Graciano Lopez Jaena, guests will plunge into the abyss of historical accounts that encapsulate the modern-day Iloilo.

The guests will soon find themselves feeling the air of austerity inside the serene Molo Church. They will be given a time to unite art with faith as they walk into the aisle surrounded images of female saints, the unique feature to which the church is known, towards the alluring altar. Beneath the floor of the aisle lies the remains of the prominent people in the district. Outside, a grotesquely magnificent sight of the combined Gothic and Renaissance architecture awaits the guests.

Proceeding to the long stretch of Muelle Loney, the University of the Philippines Visayas, known for its excellence, and the University of San Agustin, one of the oldest universities in the country, are visible. The tour will take the guests into the old port of Iloilo, historically significant for numerous trades during the Spanish era, after passing to the old streets. Also, old edifices that portray essential part in the history of honing the former Queen City of the South including the timeless Iloilo City Hall and the immaculate St. Joseph Parish.

Reminiscent structures relevant to the gallant past of the city will also be pointed out. The New Freedom Grandstand, a structure commonly linked to demonstrations and rallies as well as to the festive Dinagyang, is a must-see. The visitors will also pay tribute to the Hoskyns, the oldest department store in the country.

Going back to Calle Real, the center of trade and commerce in olden times, the tour continues to flow towards the huge Casa Real de Iloilo (Old Provincial Capitol), one of the oldest landmark constructed in 1840. Facing the said structure is the Arroyo Fountain, a goddess-inspired work of art consisting four unclothed women each carrying a fish that serves as a labyrinth for the water.

To further excavate stories from the country's little Athens, the tour will stop over at the Museo Iloilo, a repository which houses Panay's most treasured artifacts and relics of each period in history.

The tour, of course, will not be completed without experiencing the delectable taste that is purely Ilonggo. Guests will be amazed by the delicious native delicacies and their eyes will feast over the unprecedented talents of the Ilonggos expressed in different art forms at the Ilonggo Producers Association (IPA) Showroom. The tour ends at the Robinsons Place Iloilo.

Tickets for the Iloilo City Tour are available in local hotels here in Iloilo.

"We are planning to put up a cultural show at the Robinsons," Dr. Ma. Teresa Sarabia, former President of the ICCB, said.

Present during the launching of Iloilo City Tour were: ICCB President Emilio Diaz; Councilor Mercy Drilon-Garcia, Chairman of Committee on Tourism; Councilor Jed Mabilog; Edward Yee; Marissa Segovia; Atty. Jose Demaisip, former President of the Tour Guide Association of Western Visayas; and Association of Iloilo Travel and Tours Operator Secretary Judy Jeanjaquit.

Representatives from DOT6, Iloilo City Tourism Commission, Bantayan Resort, Racso's Woodland, and Robinsons Land Corporation were also present.

(article taken from: The News Today
link: http://www.thenewstoday.info/2006/05/03/iloilo.city.tour.promoting.tourism.through.heritage.html)

[lewdsaint]

Cultural Heritage Month celebration to feature Iloilo's bests
By Melanie Maderable


ILOILO City is one of the historical places in the country. It has several features and landmarks that made significant contributions in history.

To commemorate this event, the City Council declared May 2006 as the "Heritage Month Celebration" in Iloilo City.

The goal of this program is the preservation, enrichment, and dynamic evolution of a Filipino national culture based on the principle of unity and diversity in a climate of free artistic and intellectual expression.

The Iloilo City Cultural Heritage and Conservation Council is headed by City Councilor Merci Drilon-Garcia. This is a special body created and tasked to undertake the local heritage conservation, protection, rehabilitation and proper utilization of Iloilo's legacy building, architectures, structures, and historical sites.

The Heritage Month Celebration has different activities (see Social Calendar) - both religious and socio-cultural. They include exhibitions, workshop, dance performance, food festival, traditional games, Zarsuela, reception, a walking tour, Santacruzan, Halad, fireworks display and heritage tours.

(article taken from: Sunstar Iloilo News
link: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/ilo/2006/05/03/life/cultural.heritage.month.celebration.to.feature.iloilo.s.bests.html)[/

[Animo]

^^ How much is that?

That I do not know. You can call the place I guess? :)

[JAMAICUS]

Chinese connection in Fil-American relations


BY GO BON JUAN

Do you know that the Philippines was the entrepot of the Pacific or the maritime "silk route" between China and Latin America in the early Ming Dynasty? And that the first batch of Chinese workers who arrived in America came from the Philippines?

The workers sailed from China, accompanying the rich, luxurious and useful Chinese goods that became the staple in the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade. From China they traveled to Manila in sampans, unloaded some of the cargo for the domestic economy and loaded the remaining Chinese goods and those sourced from the Philippines onto the Spanish galleons that crossed the Pacific and reached Mexico.

From Latin America the goods found their way to North America and Europe.



Link between two continents

Chen Yan, professor of Oriental studies at Peking University, writes: "The Spanish occupation of Manila in 1570 opened a new route from Manila to Spanish America across the Pacific Ocean. It connected China, the Philippines and America together, which started the link between the two continents—Asia and America.

"Through the Philippines, China started the trade and cultural relations with Spanish America. Although they suffered from various restrictions imposed by the colonialists, the handicrafts and agricultural products of China reached American markets and contributed to the development of these new developing areas of the world, which were insufficient in material production. The growth in trade and cultural exchanges helped raise the consumption level of the residents of these areas, spurred the material and cultural civilization therein and benefited all parties."

Chen further emphasized, "If the above mentioned is a contribution of the Chinese to these areas, then all these contributions were accomplished or coursed through the Philippines. It can be said that such is the result of the joint efforts between the Chinese and the Filipino people."

Today it is the Filipinos who are scattered worldwide. Their contributions to various parts of the globe must be as great as those of the early Chinese who crossed the oceans and brought with them the products of their rich civilization and their skills and knowledge.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=37610

[Wonderboy]

Below are a couple of architectural gems in Binondo…

http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/9647/d19dd.jpg
This one’s near the foot of Dasmariñas Bridge.

http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/2343/d20ka.jpg
And at the corner or Dasmariñas and Marquina Street, an old structure with capiz shell windows still stands.

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/2307/d34qz.jpg
This building used to be the main office of a hardware company. It is now occupied by various business establishments.

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/6156/d43xt.jpg

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/2720/d52cd.jpg

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/9800/d68ti.jpg

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/8418/d71aw.jpg
Uy Chaco Building at the corner of Plaza Cervantes and Calle Rosario (now Quintin Paredes Street).

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/4179/d83di.jpg
Another old structure in a sorry state…

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/5558/d98ux.jpg
…and the intricate details are rotting away…

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/7686/d106ab.jpg

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/3149/d110lk.jpg
Anyway, care for a hearty lunch? Get time warped at A-1 Lunch, one of the few remaining prewar establishments in Binondo…

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/5405/d188za.jpg
This building is located at Muelle de Binondo.

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/4775/d135ds.jpg
China Bank Building at the corner of Juan Luna and Dasmariñas Street.

http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/5189/d146nm.jpg
HSBC Building

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/1627/d159mz.jpg
Well, Besa’s is still in business after 70 years!

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/5095/d168il.jpg
Uy Su Bin Building is another art deco treasure located at Calle Rosario. I will post the interiors of the building when I get back.

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/8632/d174kh.jpg
Cobblestones along Calle Nueva (now Yuchengo Street).

[Hawayano]

Awesome, Wonderboy--I love seeing your latest evidence of your jaunts thru the city! I hope the UyChaco Bldg. can be restored to its former glory someday; too bad it's old companion across the street--the art deco Insular Life building with the eagle statue perched high atop its corner tower--is no longer there (or is it, but without the old tower??)

[Wonderboy]

^^ Hello Hawayano! :wave:

Unfortunately, the eagle is not there anymore. I wasn't able to take a photo of Insular Life Building because I was running late for dinner at Bahay Nakpil. Which reminds me, I have to post photos of the dinner with Quiapo residents and Manila old timers this week. :)

[Askal82]

@jeff, Are they getting any attention? Some of them looks newly painted or even renovated. The grime build up on some is due to the city's inevitable smog problems. Numerous, dangerous and dangling cables contribute visual pollution. I hope that this place has a bright future once again.

[Wonderboy]

^^ Askal, based on my observation, majority of the heritage buildings are still in use and owned by Chinese businessmen. I'm glad that some even painted their building. I just hope that proper urban planning should be implemented (fixing the cable wires, major clean-up of buildings and sidestreets, and educate the building owners to preserve their buildings).

[Lili]

There is such charm to these old buildings. Thanks for this thread and the wonderful pictures @Wonderboy.

[Rence]

Nice pictures Wonder BOY!

[Pinoy_ako]

^^ Hello Hawayano! :wave:

Unfortunately, the eagle is not there anymore. I wasn't able to take a photo of Insular Life Building because I was running late for dinner at Bahay Nakpil. Which reminds me, I have to post photos of the dinner with Quiapo residents and Manila old timers this week. :)

Yes, the eagle is no longer there, but the structure is basically the same. They remodelled it, I think when the International Style(?) was in vogue, so it looks so austere right now. Besides the eagle, they stripped it of all ornamentations.

[Wonderboy]

Thanks Lili and Rence! :)

Pinoy-ako, I wonder what happened to the eagle...

[Pinoy_ako]

They don't salvage anything in this country, so baka naging panambak.

Detour:

There is an international organization that can be of help if the structures of monuments meet their criteria. Nominations can be made by governments, specialists or NGOs. The past sites that were nominated and selected from the Philippines include the following:

Philippines, Benguet, Kabayan, Kabayan Mummy Caves (1998)
Philippines, Ifugao, Rice Terraces of the Cordilleras (2000)
Philippines, Manila, San Sebastián Church (1998)
Philippines, Rizal, Angono, Angono Petroglyphs (1996)

I think San Sebastian Church did not avail of this opportunity, based on an article I read sometime ago. If we have a truly significant structure, streetscape or village ( Luneta Hotel, San Nicholas(?) ) , maybe HCS may be able to nominate since they are staffed by competent specialists like Architect Villalon, or were they the ones who nominated the earlier sites? The web site: http://wmf.org/watch.html


World Monuments Watch

Launched in 1995 in response to increasing threats to cultural heritage sites around the globe, the World Monuments Watch is WMF's flagship advocacy program. Announced every two years, the World Monuments Watch list of 100 Most Endangered Sites calls international attention to cultural heritage sites around the world threatened by neglect, vandalism, armed conflict, or natural disaster. Through the Watch, WMF fosters community support for the protection of endangered sites and attracts technical and financial resources to assist in their rescue. More than 75% of Watch sites have been saved or are well on their way, thanks to timely intervention. The American Express Company is the proud founding sponsor of the World Monuments Watch.


Watch sites are selected by an independent panel of experts from nominations submitted by governments, preservation professionals, NGOs, and others. Sites of all types and from all time periods—from ancient to modern—are eligible. “Monuments” can be archaeological sites; residential, civic, commercial, military, or religious architecture; cultural landscapes; and townscapes. The 2006 list includes sites from 55 countries on all seven continents.

Nomination forms for the 2008 list will be available here on June 1, 2006. The deadline for submission is January 15, 2007 (postmark, if mailed). Incomplete applications are not considered. Electronic submissions are preferred, but hard copies are accepted. To receive a form, send your name and address to watch@wmf.org; +1-646-424-9593 (fax), or World Monuments Fund, 95 Madison Avenue, NY, NY 10016, Attn: Watch Forms.

[dancethingy]

WOW, wonderboy thanks so much for those amazing pictures. Amazing!!!!!!!! Such rich cultural gems all over manila waiting to reclaim its former glory.

[Wonderboy]

^^ You're welcome Dancethingy!

Pinoy_ako, thanks for posting the info on world monuments watch. HCS has already nominated of couple of heritage sites though I still have to request for the list.

-----

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB108930781983558693.html

Finding Heritage Value

China is starting to realize that preserving archaeological sites may be a better idea than building shopping malls. Karen Mazurkewich reports.

THE ASIAN WALL STREET JOURNAL
July 9, 2004

LUOYANG, China -- Developers hit an unexpected snag when they began planning a new civic square and mall in this booming metropolis two years ago: They stumbled on the remains of an ancient burial site.

The developers cursed, seeing only delays ahead as work was put on hold for archaeologists to examine the sprawling site. Gradually it revealed its treasures: almost 400 sacrificial pits, the largest containing a six-horse chariot, which, according to ancient texts, could only have been used by an emperor, confirming that this was a royal tomb.

But after four months of excavation, the developers became impatient waiting for the go-ahead to resume their work. In January last year, under cover of darkness, they brought in heavy earthmoving equipment. The next morning, three large machines tore into the soil before cultural officials could intervene.

"We were shocked," says Ye Peng, head of the local cultural relics team, which immediately swung into action to protect the site. After three weeks of intensive lobbying and a stern letter of intervention from delegates to the National People's Congress, the developers were forced to abandon their work. In October last year, the small Che Ma Keng Museum opened above the burial pits.

Three years after Unesco's World Heritage Center released a scathing report on the country's poor management of its cultural sites, boom-time China is starting to realize that preserving archaeological finds can be more lucrative than developing shopping malls. In this environment, the story of Luoyang's Che Ma Keng chariot site offers a rare insight into the increasingly frequent and complex conflicts between typically state-backed developers, and archaeologists, conservationists and officials from myriad other state bodies.

"More and more people now realize that cultural relics are very valuable because they can attract more people to the city and bring in more money," says Wei Na, the new curator of the Che Ma Keng Museum, which has had 32,500 visitors, each paying $2.40, since October. "The government understands this now."

And China's new maturity in the field of antiquities protection has had another impact in the form of a wave of submissions to the World Heritage Center. Twenty-nine Chinese sites have received World Heritage designations from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization since 1985, and dozens more have been added to the waiting list. Last week at a World Heritage Committee meeting in Suzhou, yet another China proposal was approved -- the royal tombs of the Koguryo ethnic group in the northern province of Jilin.

"For a long time the attention was on economic and industrial development, and the conservation of sites focused on the big ones such as the Imperial Palace in Beijing and the (terracotta warriors) in Xian," says Francesco Bandarin, director of the World Heritage Center in Paris who has had Chinese delegations from as far afield as Guangzhou and Chengdu traipse through his office. "Now…many provinces are discovering that conservation isn't only a moral duty but an economic asset because of tourism."

Indeed, Luoyang, in the northern province of Henan, already has seen the financial dividends of archaeological preservation. The city is also home to the Longmen Grottoes (316-906 A.D.), which hold exceptional Buddhist stone sculptures. Since the grottoes were named a World Heritage site in 2000, the city has had a massive increase in tourists -- to 12 million in 2002 from six million in 1999. Meantime, tourism revenue nearly tripled to $750 million from $280 million.

Sacrificial Tombs
The Che Ma Keng find is likely to further help the city's coffers. Archaeologists called in to do exploratory drilling on the 42,000-square-meter site initially thought they had stumbled across a local equivalent of Xian's famous entombed terracotta soldiers. "At first they found only a few small tombs," says Guo Yinqiang, one of the archaeologists who worked on the site. "But they kept finding more and more and bigger and bigger pits." Ultimately, nearly 400 sacrificial tombs, holding 18 chariots, as well as horse, dog and human skeletons from the Eastern Zhou dynasty (770-256 B.C.), were unearthed.

In December 2002, a team of 12 Henan scholars, headed by Ye Peng, a Chinese academic, called for the building of an on-site museum to protect and display the ruins. Pan Hanping, the chairman of Luoyang People's Political Consultative Committee, announced in local newspapers that the emperor's chariot should be considered a symbol of ancient Luoyang.

Meanwhile, the state developers of the project -- the Luoyang Land, Resources and Urban Planning Bureau and the Luoyang People's Air Raid Office, a relic from the 1960s -- were getting increasingly frustrated with the delay. They already had poured $480,000 into the $12 million project on the expectation of walking away with a handsome profit once the civic square, shopping mall and parking lot was completed. They suggested the tombs be excavated and relocated so construction could start, but the idea was rejected. Late one night in January last year, Zhang Qingsen, the project's construction chief from the city's urban planning department, organized for the earthmoving equipment to be transported to the site.

As digging proceeded, the conflicting government bodies tussled. The Luoyang Cultural Relics Bureau was informed that the Luoyang Party Committee and the municipal government had ordered the complex be completed and had initiated construction. Infuriated, the Luoyang Cultural Relics Bureau head, Ye Wangsong, fired back a response. According to China's Cultural Relics Protection Law, he said, construction needed the approval of the State Cultural Relics Bureau and the Henan provincial government. The Luoyang scholars appealed to the state bureau and two articles criticizing the construction appeared in the "China Cultural Relics News." Finally, intervention came from the top: 40 delegates of the National People's Congress wrote a stern letter requesting state leaders to intervene. In late January last year, national and provincial Cultural Relics Bureau officials held an on-site meeting. A week later, construction ceased. The municipal government developers were persuaded against proceeding with the shopping mall and instead allocated $2 million for an open-display museum over the site alongside a civic square and vastly reduced 8,000-square-meter parking lot.

"It was a victory for us," says Mr. Guo, the archaeologist. "There's full protection of the chariots and all the (development) plans are scrapped."

Zhang Qingsen, the construction chief, defends his position on the matter. "What we found was unqualified to build up a large-scale museum, as experts suggested. Only 17 of the 397 tombs had horses, and only eight of those had chariots, which means the other 380 tombs were basically empty…and weren't worth displaying."

The stand off between the developers and the conservationists took almost a year to resolve, and not before some damage was done. Before the developers finished work on the museum and civic square, they backfilled with earth some of the exposed tombs that weren't earmarked for display in the open museum -- a process that some believe might eventually destroy them. "I think backfilling is destruction," says Ye Wansong, the Luoyang Cultural Relics Bureau chief. "What they used to backfill was earth and sand. Earth will mix with the chariots, making (them) even (more) difficult to recover; sand will bring up underground water, which means a disaster to these relics."

Today, the largest pit containing the six-horse chariot and the skeletons of six horses is on display next to the museum's exposition hall, which contains terracotta and bronzeware from the Eastern Zhou dynasty. Even though the city's Cultural Relics Bureau won't pursue a World Heritage nomination for the site, it is hoping to get a second listing for its Han Wei ruins, which date back to the Han dynasty ( 202B.C.-220A.D.).

China has documented 87 sites it wants considered for World Heritage status -- the longest list of any country on the planet. It is currently lobbying to change a Unesco recommendation that a country can submit only one nomination a year. Under the rule, it could take almost a century before China's stack of applications in the pipeline are inscribed as heritage sites.

High Pollution
Ironically, many of the cities submitting applications are more famous for their high pollution indexes and heavy industry than their cultural riches. The metropolis of Anyang for example, also in Henan province, is the home of the province's largest iron ore smelting plant and the city's skyline is marked by rows of smokestacks. But it's also the historical site of one of China's ancient capitals -- the capital of the Bronze Age Shang dynasty (1600-1046 B.C.). Anyang's vice mayor, Xiao Jiye, believes the municipality's salvation lies not in the 60-year-old steel plant, but in its Shang tombs. He has spearheaded private fund-raising efforts to upgrade the city so it can have a chance of achieving World Heritage status. This includes a desperately needed greening initiative and the relocation of 400 people living within the old ruins. "We want to enhance the influence of Anyang overseas," Mr. Xiao says.

As more municipalities try to leverage their ancient riches, archaeologists are flexing more muscle. In 2002, when workers digging drainage ditches for a new highway in Chengdu stumbled across a pit filled with jade, gold amulets and elephant tusks from the little-known Sanxingdui culture (2,500 B.C.-1,200 B.C.), the local cultural relics bureau stepped in. The road was diverted, and a museum is being built over what is now called the Jinsha Field Station. "In the past, even if they discovered a lot of cultural relics, they'd be removed, and once removed, the construction would continue," says site director Zhu Zhangyi.

Still, China has a long way to go to safeguard its cultural heritage. Just three years ago, a Unesco report criticized the infrastructure and management of Chengde's Qing dynasty summer palace, which was named a World Heritage site in the 1980s. Unesco representatives were appalled by the "ill-designed modern structures ruining the townscape," carvings inside temples "covered in dust" and too many souvenir hawkers. In the past, Unesco also has criticized China for its tourism management along the Great Wall and in the ancient Yunnan town of Lijiang.

But Luoyang's new museum, with its gleaming professional exhibitions and well-lit open display, may become a symbol of the country's new pride and professionalism -- and of the increasing sway of China's cultural titans.

"I've read about the horse and chariots and now that the real things have been unearthed I'd like to see them," says Ku Suen Fai, a Hong Kong food distributor, who is visiting the exhibit for the second time with his wife. "I'm so proud of the cultural history of China."

Echoing his sentiments is Tao Min, who took a six-hour train ride from Jiangsu province to vacation in Luoyang with his 18-year-old daughter. "Because I'm Chinese I'm very proud of our Chinese culture," Mr. Tao says. "Whenever I travel I like to see historical relics. I'm happy to see more and more attention being paid for their protection."

Write to Karen Mazurkewich at karen.mazurkewich@wsj.com

[Wonderboy]

^^ What are you talking about "Sudden intrest"? He has been wanting this since he had been seated to the DOT office.

Hawayano has a point. While the Maestranza Wall has a great historical value, the said restoration is not called for and I believe this is another Gordon "pet" project. Let's enumerate a couple of his projects for further clarification...

1. WOW Intramuros

- Concerts at Baluerte de San Diego
- Al fresco dinner buffet at Calle Real del Palacio and Plaza San Luis
- Two clam shells (located at Gen. Luna and Calle Arzobispo) - for bazaars, public exhibition, etc.

...all of which disappeared after a few months...

2. Lapu Lapu Monument (location: Luneta just a few meters away from Intramuros)

The humongous statue of Lapu Lapu in Rizal Park is out of place and though it has already been removed, Gordon still insisted that it should be placed at Rizal Park. Agaw eksena tuloy sa monumento ni Rizal.

"Rebuilding the Maestranza Wall can allow us to develop Intramuros further, and develop the banks of the Pasig River like Clarke and Boat Quay in Singapore, creating greater incentive to clean up the aorta of Metro Manila..."

The banks of the Pasig River will never be like Clarke and Boat Quay in Singapore unless there would be a major clean up of the river and all the squatters as well as factories/ oil companies throwing waste into the river will be relocated.

Whatever happened to the Pasig Rehabilitation Project? The planning should always be properly mapped out before anything else.

Yes, I believe that the budget should be allotted for the restoration of Ayuntamiento or San Ignacio Church instead. The Maestranza Wall can be built but we need to be practical nowadays.

[Pinoy_ako]

^^^^^^

We don't really know the reason ( or motives ) behind the rebuilding of the Maestranza section. It would really be great to see the walls encircling Intramuros once again. However, this section was demolished during the American era. The Japanese funds might as well be used for those sections destroyed in connection with the Japanese occupation. One more thing, nothing remains from the Maestranza section of the wall, so time is not a determining factor for its eventual reconstruction. On the other hand, the ruins of San Ignacio and Ayuntamiento are still there. In this case, they will not be reconstructed since I believe they can still be restored.

[lewdsaint]

'Save Iloilo City Calle Real' forum set

Stakeholders and concerned residents will have a chance to make their say on efforts to conserve one of Iloilo City's best heritage - its downtown central business district or popularly known as Calle Real.

The draft Iloilo City Downtown Central Business District Heritage Conservation Guidelines, which cover conservation, restoration and development measures for heritage buildings and sites, will be presented in a forum on May 25.


Aptly titled "Save Calle Real," it will be hosted by the Iloilo City Cultural Heritage Conservation Council in cooperation with the Iloilo City Planning and Development Office and the Canadian Urban Institute.

The forum, to be held at the Iloilo Grand Hotel at 1:00 PM, will draw together policy makers, urban planners, architects and stakeholders from the business community as well as the arts and culture circle.

Calle Real is home to Art Deco-styled commercial buildings built during the 1920s up to the 1950s. Originally, it refers only to J. M. Basa Street but has evolved as a nomenclature for Iloilo City's central business district.

The district consists of the streets of J. M. Basa, Aldeguer, Mapa, Guanco and Iznart, which has been declared as the Iloilo City Heritage Zone under the Ordinance No. 00-054 otherwise known as the Local Cultural Heritage Conservation Ordinance.

The ordinance mandates that the use, upkeep and preservation of these structures and landmarks as far as practicable shall always be the concern of the Iloilo City government. It also created the ICCHCC, the body responsible in advancing cultural heritage conservation and promotion in the city.

"Calle Real remains an important shopping destination in the city despite the opening of malls. Sadly, its heritage buildings and structures are slowly wearing out to the forces of nature and human neglect," says Jose Roni Peñalosa, Iloilo City Planning and Development Coordinator.

"There is a need to preserve these buildings because aside from being testimonies to Iloilo City's glorious past, they are potential tourist attractions that can bring in much-needed income for the city and its people," he adds.

A copy of the draft guidelines will be posted at the CUI website at www.philippines.canurb.com starting May 20 for the public to review so they can be properly informed before attending the forum.

Souce www.philippines.canurb.com

[lewdsaint]

Calle Real is J.M. Basa Street, one of the main thouroughfares in Iloilo City. Traffic here is always heavy. Like in the past, it remains as an important shopping destination because of its low-cost buys.

Calle Real celebrates our past and serves as reminder of the events that shaped Iloilo City. These are found in the buildings, streets, and homes of some well-known businessmen and leaders.

So please to tell us what do you value most about Calle Real? How do you think change and growth should be managed in Calle Real? You can help decide what should Iloilo City look like in 5, 10, 15 or 20 years from now.

Participate in the forum that will dissect the draft Iloilo City Downtown Central Business District Heritage Conservation Guidelines and help us plan for Calle Real’s future. Join us on May 25, 2006, 1:00 P.M. at the Iloilo Grand Hotel, Iznart Street, Iloilo City.

You can review the draft guidelines which will be available for download in this site starting May 20, 2006.

For more information, contact Jose Roni Peñalosa, Iloilo City Planning and Development Coordinator, at telephone number 3351334 or email at jrpenalosa@skyinet.net, or Engr. Noel Hechanova, ICCHCC Executive Director, at telephone number 3368262 or email at noel_hechanova@yahoo.com.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e248/lewdsaint/plazoleta.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e248/lewdsaint/basajm.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e248/lewdsaint/jmbasa2.jpg

Link http://www.philippines.canurb.com/callereal.htm

[lewdsaint]

Artist's rendition of some of the Iloilo City Calle Real buildings


S. Villanueva Building 2
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e248/lewdsaint/sv2.jpg

S. Villanueva Building 1
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e248/lewdsaint/sv1.jpg

Regent Building
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e248/lewdsaint/regent.jpg

[lewdsaint]

Iloilo Heritage Forum

PROGRAMME

Save Calle Real: Public Consultation on the draft Iloilo City Downtown Central Business District Heritage Conservation Guidelines

Opening Remarks
Arch. Antonio Sangrador
Chairperson, Iloilo City Cultural Heritage Conservation Council

Inspirational Message
Hon. Jerry P. Treñas
Mayor, Iloilo City

Forum Overview
Mr. Jose Roni Peñalosa
City Planning and Development Coordinator, Iloilo City


Presentation: Iloilo City Downtown CBD Heritage Conservation Guidelines
Arch. Manuel Tingson
Vice Chairperson
ICCHCC

Invited Reactors
Mr. Art Valero
OIC Regional Director
NEDA VI

Prof. Henry Funtecha
UPV Visayas Studies Center

Arch. Leopoldo Padlan
FUAP Marikudo Chapter

Mr. Antonio Jon
President, Iloilo Business Club

Mr. Benjamin Ledesma
Representative, S. Javellana Buildings

Representative of the
Silay City Heritage Foundation

Open Forum
Francis Gentoral
Moderator

Closing Remarks
Mr. Noel Hechanova
Executive Director, ICCHCC


May 25, 2006, 1:00 P.M. at the Iloilo Grand Hotel, Iznart Street, Iloilo City.

Link http://www.philippines.canurb.com/callereal.htm

[lewdsaint]

Save Iloilo City Calle Real

Iloilo City is a virtual time machine that will transport anyone back to its colonial past. While malls have risen in various corners of the city, they could not outshine the splendor of its colonial buildings that adorn its Calle Real, the first commercial center and its adjoining districts. They are not only testimonies of city’s rich cultural heritage but are tourism assets worth promoting.

However, these mute witnesses to the rise and fall of the Queen City of the South stand voiceless to those who found them of no use as they struggle daily to put food on their tables and clothes on their backs. Jeepney drivers pay no attention to their elegance. Sidewalk vendors shut their eyes to their grandeur. Bargain hunters take no notice of their value.

To the common folk, they merely serve as backdrops for the clatter of traffic, the sweat of commerce and the dust of shopping. They appear inconsequential to the everyday street tenant. As they labor to keep both ends meet, they are oblivious to the splendor hidden behind billboards and panaflex signage.

But at closer look, Iloilo City’s heritage buildings and houses are treasures worth keeping.

Responding to the call for cultural and heritage tourism, the Iloilo City government created the Iloilo City Cultural Heritage Conservation Council (ICCHCC) by enacting in April 2000 Ordinance No. 00-054 otherwise known as the Local Cultural Heritage Conservation Ordinance.

The council, composed of individuals from the arts and culture community, was envisioned to be the body responsible in advancing cultural heritage conservation and promotion. It also addressed the call of the Tourism Sector Plan and the Environmental Management Sector Plan of the 1998-2010 Iloilo City Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) for a program on heritage conservation.

The council was tasked to conduct an inventory of cultural heritage and legacy buildings and promulgate rules and regulations for their preservation to address the need to preserve the city’s heritage structures that are slowly disappearing, and enhance the city’s tourism potentials. Tourism is seen as a major economic driver for Iloilo City, generating investments and local government revenues as well as jobs for its people.

The main target of this conservation effort is the Central Business District, which consists of the streets of J. M. Basa, Aldeguer, Mapa, Guanco and Iznart. Declared as the Iloilo City Heritage Zone, the area is home to Art Deco-styled commercial buildings built during the 1920s up to the 1950s. A catalogue of these buildings has already been prepared as an initial step in conservation planning.

The ordinance, which underwent some amendments in April 2001, states that all buildings in Iloilo City that are 50 years or more in existence are to be considered heritage or legacy buildings. Likewise, Plaza Libertad and the district plazas of Molo, Arevalo, Mandurriao, La Paz and Jaro were declared historical and cultural landmarks and can only be used for historical, cultural and fiesta celebrations. The ordinance mandates that the use, upkeep and preservation of these structures and landmarks as far as practicable shall always be the concern of the Iloilo City government.

Owners, administrators, lessees or any persons in charge of heritage or legacy structures are prohibited from undertaking any repair, rehabilitation or construction of any kind unless there is a favorable recommendation from the ICCHCC. In the event that the repair or rehabilitation is urgent, building owners, administrators or lessees are mandated to make sure that the façade showing the architectural design of the buildings is retained, restored and preserved.

All businesses within the heritage zone are given incentives. These include exemption from payment of business taxes and building fees. Old investors as well as new ones can avail of these incentives as long as they are in the heritage zone.

This grant of incentives is aimed to revive business activities within the heritage zone which, prior to the onset of shopping malls, was the busiest area in Iloilo City. With challenges like shrinking business profitability, deteriorating commercial area and poor environment, it is feared that the Central Business District will have an untimely demise if nothing is done to rescue it. The revival of the area is expected to spur more investments and create more jobs.

An “Iloilo City CBD Heritage Conservation Guideline” has been formulated to deal with planning and design strategies that will help conserve the city’s heritage. The guideline covers conservation, restoration and redevelopment measures for building and sites.

But the program is not just about culture, tourism and economic development. It is also about public-private partnership, about multi-stakeholder approach to planning and about innovative strategies worth looking into.

Link http://www.philippines.canurb.com/callereal.htm

[overtureph]

GREEN ARCHITRENDS
Green architecture and visual pollution

First posted 03:22am (Mla time) May 13, 2006
By Amado de Jesus
Inquirer



Editor's Note: Published on Page B2-1 of the May 13, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

WE'VE ALL HEARD WHAT IS AIR pollution, water pollution, soil pollution, noise pollution, electropollution and industrial pollution. And now we have visual pollution? Is there such a thing?

Visual pollution or visual blight refers to those elements of the landscape that the people find unattractive. These elements that clutter our surroundings may include excessive advertising billboards, stoplights, street signs, dangling telephone and power lines, utility posts, street furniture, graffiti, weeds, garbage, badly maintained buildings and derelict vehicles along the side of the road.

What is dangerous about visual pollution is its subtle way of making people indifferent to its negative effects. For example, the features of landscapes in many of our communities are getting to be identical and generic no matter what part of the country you visit, fast-food stores, roadside commercial establishments, etc. The unique character of our cities, towns and barrios, which evolved through its history and culture, is slowly disappearing, all because we have allowed visual pollution to dominate and damage our environment.

Other effects

Visual pollution can also refer to visibility issues such as when a distant scenic view is blocked by an unattractive element in the landscape.

Graffiti, spray-painted names and messages are a form of urban visual blight. This type of vandalism and its eradication in cities and towns can cost a lot of taxpayers' money. We can see this in the cleaning program of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) as it tries to cover up graffiti all over the city with decorative painted murals. One may not agree with the art form but it's definitely better than the graffiti we see everywhere.

Visual pollution also affects the tourism industry. Tourists, both local and foreign, avoid unattractive places. They tend to think of these places as unsafe and unhygienic. Establishments in these areas naturally will have very few patrons.

Visual pollution, just like the clutter and disorder in our homes, can also cause stress. Add to this the hectic pace and pressures of modern life in our crowded cities and you develop stressful citizens.

How other countries cope

The Philippines is not alone in this predicament. Many countries now are advocating and fighting visual pollution on many fronts and many of them are waging an effective war.

For instance, Beijing has approved new regulations to eliminate illegal outdoor advertising. The new regulation also asks government organizations to submit their advertisements for approval. Illegal ads are demolished if they are not given permits. Companies and persons who refuse to comply are fined up to US$1,200. Work has also started on the demolition of old billboards.

Beijing has also set up rules establishing specific sites where billboards can be placed. Outdoor signs are forbidden near the Tian'anmen Square and other important government buildings.

The new regulation also forbids billboards and other ads at interchanges and overpasses.

In Albuquerque, New Mexico, they have an ordinance that limits the size of signs through a formula that considers the size of the lots, the amount of frontage on the street and the size of the building. Allowable sizes for signs range from one square foot in residential areas to a maximum of 706 square feet. The height of the sign is limited to 26 feet or the height of the average utility pole. Sign size allotments are given to the property owner rather than to individual businesses.

When the ordinance was passed, all the sign owners were given five years to alter the size of the signs to conform with the law. When the provisions of the law were challenged by sign companies, the New Mexico court ruled that aesthetics alone was enough reason for the regulation and that the ordinance did not violate the sign owners' constitutional rights. Since then most sign owners have complied with the ordinance.

In historic parts of the city, signs have been put up to conform with the architectural character of the structures. Stoplights and street lights have also been designed to complement the historic character of their settings. Utility poles have been removed in the downtown area and in newer areas utility lines have been laid underground.

In England, as in many parts of Europe, people agree that advertising can be done in various ways and business is not determined by the size and number of signs.

In the Czech Republic, due to the rapid increase in neon signs and illuminated advertising since the fall of communism, a law was enacted to curb another form of visual pollution, light pollution.

Light pollution is illumination from artificial light dispersed outside the areas it is supposed to brighten, especially if facing skyward. Opponents of light pollution claim that due to the proliferation of artificial outdoor lighting, it has become difficult to have clear night skies where one can see the stars.

Astronomers also complain that they need to use stronger instruments to view the Milky Way.

Astronomers will work with energy experts and the public to limit the amount of wasted light. This means billboards lit from above with lights pointing downward. Astronomers claim that excessive exposure to nighttime lighting causes nearsightedness, cancer, insomnia, immune-system damage and a reduction in production of the hormone melatonin.

What to do?

As seen from the experience of several countries, there are many strategies that can be used to combat visual pollution. A sensitive approach would be for planners to include the elimination of visual pollution in their design criteria. An example would be to bury utility lines in some specific areas, like parks and plazas. This would lead to more green and aesthetically pleasing neighborhoods. Cell site towers can be designed to look like trees or cacti.

Another suggestion is for people who feel that some billboards pollute their neighborhood. They should let the advertisers know that they will not be buying their product as long as they continue to pollute the landscape. This is more effective than regulation, especially in this country, where we already have a lot of laws that are not followed.

Green architecture can address some of the problems of visual blight. Green buildings encourage the use of materials that last longer and are easy to maintain. They are also healthy buildings that promote the use of daylight and natural ventilation, elements that are discarded in favor of obstacles that prevent access to open and green spaces. Green architecture encourages the integration of lush vegetation as part of the overall onsite development of a property. This means no unnecessary structures such as ad signs to block the flow of ventilation.

For comments or inquiries, e-mail amadodejesus@gmail.com.



Copyright 2006 Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://news.inq7.net/lifestyle/inde...&story_id=75645

[overtureph]

Inquirer Visayas : The old 'casa' and Sitio Ubos

First posted 11:19pm (Mla time) May 12, 2006
By Gavin Sanson Bagares
Inquirer



Editor's Note: Published on Page A15 of the May 13, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

ON April 29, the Casa Rocha-Suarez Heritage Center, now a lifestyle museum on A.M. Torralba Street in Sitio Ubos, Tagbilaran City, celebrated its first anniversary, and the occasion marked yet another rite of passage for the house that has been home to at least six generations of Rochas.

For Ubos, it has been a resurrection from near obscurity.

The Casa Rocha-Suarez was built between 1837 and 1839, and its appearance might have changed a little through the years, except for the alteration in the roof line, from a stately pitched nipa thatch to a low-slung nondescript tin—probably a renovation casualty in the 1970s.

Up the narrow staircase of the edifice, one enters a commodious living room and sees the details of a lovingly crafted house: the posts of whole trees carved in a vaguely oriental design, the generous ceiling that gives the rooms a certain grace, and the big sliding windows, opening to welcome the sea breeze of night or closing to ward off the glare of day through the nacreous filter of capiz shells.

Family treasures

In one of the bigger bedrooms, a rare antique, an Ah Tay bed (named after the Chinese furniture maker of Old Manila whose trademark is the unmistakable squash design on the posts and base) holds sway.

And here and there, in the galleries, one finds mementos of the house that had made it special, like the art deco signage announcing the business of Hermanas Rocha, or the appurtenances of baking, including the fancy cookie molds; and the faded photographs that recall a bygone age.

At Christmastime, if one were lucky enough to visit, an elaborate Nativity tableau or Belen is on display. Many of the pieces are made of ivory and said to be of 18th-century style. The tableau is reminiscent of the many old Belens of Cebu, of which the entire Bohol was a dependency until 1864 (a fact confirmed by historian Jes Tirol).

The Rocha “Belen,” for example, can well rival Cebu’s very best, that of the family of the Cebu Diocese’s first Filipino bishop, Juan Gorordo y Garces.

The house of Rocha gave Tagbilaran many of its illustrious sons. It had at least one gobernadorcillo (mayor) in Don Felipe Rocha, one two-term provincial governor in his son, Don Fernando Rocha, and yet another modern-day mayor of direct descent from the gentlemen.

Don Fernando had the benefit of higher learning in Manila, and before his foray to big-time politics, he ran a private school. Only his sisters may have equaled his fame as an ilustrado, a well-educated one, among the Tagbilaran principales or elite.

Filomena operated a general store on the ground floor of Casa Rocha-Suarez, later memorialized by one Tagbilaran mayor, Honorio Grupo, as “a bazaar, drugstore, hardware store, and sari-sari store put together.”

Two other siblings, Gregoria and Concepcion, kept themselves busy with a bakery operation most famous for its hojaldres de Hermanas Rocha. This prize-winning pastry has impeccable antecedents in Cebu.

The French traveler, Jean Mallat, writing in 1846, observed that “their (Cebu bakeries’) puff cakes called ojaldres are of a delicacy that would do honor to the best pastry cooks of Paris …” Clearly, the Rocha ladies had carried on a grand tradition and made it their own.

A period of eclipse

World War II put an end to Hermanas Rocha. The family itself began to settle in Manila in the 1950s, leaving the house shuttered and dusty for decades.

Yet, another descendent was to bring honor to the family with the appointment of Pablo Rocha Suarez as ambassador plenipotentiary to Malaysia, China and the US. The late ambassador, who also served as undersecretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs before his death in 1993, is the Suarez in the Casa Rocha-Suarez name.

The plight of Casa Rocha-Suarez has been similar to that of other old houses in Sitio Ubos, itself a truly historic site. Strung along the length of A.M. Torralba Street are 19th-century residences in various states of disrepair or ill-use. One of them has been completely obliterated by a Manila antiques dealer.

The remaining homes are those of (current occupants only) a Swiss citizen, the Beldia family, and the Yap family. A mysterious old building, halfway between a shed and a barn, occupies the lot between the Yap and the Swiss’s homes.

The Swiss’s house itself used to belong to the Rocha family. Evidence also shows that at least one more house in Ubos once belonged to them.

Pariancito

Journalist John Jasper Cortes wrote that “around 1830, the merchants of Tagbilaran descended to the lower part of the city, at the back of the St. Joseph Cathedral, when the moro (sic) raids along the coastal areas of Bohol were quelled.”

They built substantial houses of cal y canto, an upper-class house of strong materials, which Mallat wrote, “generally belong to mestizos.” (Mestizo in Mallat’s time referred only to those of Chinese ancestry and the racial mix was reckoned patrilineally through generations. “Mestizo” to refer to the Spanish half-caste was a later development).

An 1885 document at the Philippine National Archives states that two Butalid sisters and their Rocha sister-in-law (as can be inferred) sold one such house of cal y canto—“situada en el sitio de Ubos”—and a small boat to a gentleman of the Tagbilaran principales surnamed Calceta.

The house was located on land surrounded on two sides by sea. (Was this the one bought by the antiques dealer?)

And, incidentally, the same document classified “Doñas” Butalid and Rocha, and the Calceta “don” as “mestizo sangley” or Chinese mestizo.

Ubos was apparently a Pariancito, a little Parian. The Parian was a Chinese and mestizo ghetto and, like those of Cebu and Manila, markets for, among other things, quilts from cotton and cotton gauze.

Again, Mallat had this to say: “… with the cotton they (Boholanos) harvest they manufacture cloths of great solidity: they also weave some cloths of silk of which we have seen beautiful examples.”

Interestingly, the profession of the aforesaid Rocha woman was that of the “ilandera” or spinner of yarn for cloth production.

The Rocha ancestors’ choice of Ubos clearly demonstrated their mestizo backgrounds or their vocation as merchants. Don Felipe Rocha was one such “comerciante” in 1872.

Ubos was sandwiched between the commerce of the old public market (now defunct and long supplanted by new ones) beside the cathedral and the trade at its shoreline fronting the Bohol Strait, thus profiting from business of both upland and waterway.

Government must help

The work began at Casa Rocha-Suarez will hopefully provide a catalyst for the rehabilitation of Ubos, from a slum to a magnet of tourism.

The genteel Swiss citizen and Ubos resident suggests that the government must help further this cause not only by providing funds, expertise or muscle to help maintain the old houses (and encourage homeowners to do so), but by exerting political will as well in quelling the fresh tides of informal settlers and in relocating the old ones.

This would also mean their strict enforcement of building codes.

They would like to see the day when the now obstructed view to the beach is cleared, and the sea breeze once again flows back freely into the old houses.

In the end, it is not only tourism that will benefit, but also the Boholano soul.



Copyright 2006 Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


http://news.inq7.net/regions/index.php?index=2&story_id=75586&col=39

[lewdsaint]

This is great!

More of the Calle Real conservation:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h151/soulmaker27/CATALOGUE1.jpg

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h151/soulmaker27/CATALOGUE2.jpg

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h151/soulmaker27/CATALOGUE3.jpg

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h151/soulmaker27/CATALOGUE4.jpg

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h151/soulmaker27/CATALOGUE5.jpg

All taken from the humble website of ICCHC: http://www.geocities.com/icchcc/


Artist's rendition of some of the Iloilo City Calle Real buildings


S. Villanueva Building 2
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e248/lewdsaint/sv2.jpg

S. Villanueva Building 1
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e248/lewdsaint/sv1.jpg

Regent Building
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e248/lewdsaint/regent.jpg

[Animo]

^^ Thats really nice! Are they going to do some restoration?

[overtureph]

10.9 has of NV, Quirino forests destroyed daily
By Charlie Lagasca
The Philippine Star 05/14/2006

CABARROGUIS, Quirino — The forest covers of this province and neighboring Nueva Vizcaya, Cagayan Valley’s major watersheds, continue to be depleted at 4,001 hectares every year or 10.9 hectares every day.

These figures are based on a report of the US Agency for International Development-assisted Philippine Environmental Governance (EcoGov) in Luzon, which is now focusing its efforts on reducing destructive activities in the forest reserves of the Sierra Madre mountain range, which straddles the two provinces.

Quirino’s 80 percent forest cover is reportedly being reduced by 3,545 hectares a year or 9.7 hectares a day.

Its former mother province, Nueva Vizcaya, still has 51 percent forest cover, but this is being depleted by 456 hectares annually or 1.2 hectares daily.

Because of this, Bien Dolom, EcoGov forest land specialist, said forest reserves in the Sierra Madre mountain range in Cagayan Valley, especially in the two provinces, are declared priority areas for environmental protection and management programs and activities.

However, Quirino and Nueva Vizcaya, along with Isabela, which still maintains 579,817 hectares of forest cover, one of the country’s largest, are not yet considered "illegal logging hot spots" by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources despite the destructive activities going on there.

While Sierra Madre’s rich biodiversity, particularly in the two provinces, serves as lifeblood to power and irrigation facilities in Luzon, Dolom said massive illegal cutting of trees, excessive migration, rampant slash-and-burn farming and timber poaching are threatening this.

Forests in Quirino and Nueva Vizcaya serve as watersheds for major dams such as the Pantabangan Dam in Nueva Ecija, the Casecnan multipurpose irrigation and power project in Nueva Vizcaya, and the Magat Dam in Isabela, three of the country’s major sources of power and irrigation.

The three dams generate at least 1,000 megawatts for the Luzon grid and irrigate at least 600,000 hectares of farmlands in Nueva Ecija, Isabela, Quirino and western Pangasinan.

"Our forest cover in (Quirino and Nueva Vizcaya) is now in critical condition since it is being threatened by the conversion of old growth forests into residual ones," he said.

Dolom cited an urgent need to implement forest protection and management schemes, especially by the local governments concerned, to prevent further degradation of Luzon’s remaining forested areas.

"If the wanton destruction of our forests remains unabated, then the lifespan of our infrastructure such as roads, bridges and dams will be shortened, if not (they will be) destroyed," he said.

Besides Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino and Isabela, the Sierra Madre mountain range, which still accounts for the vast area of virgin forest in Northern Luzon, also straddles the provinces of Quezon, Aurora, Bulacan, Rizal, Nueva Ecija and Cagayan.

Luzon’s forests, which also include those in the Cordillera and Caraballo mountain ranges, account for more than 400,000 hectares of the country’s 800,000 hectares of remaining forest cover.

Recently, Greenpeace, an international environmental group, revealed that illegal cutting of trees is still rampant in the Sierra Madre.

http://philstar.com/philstar/news200605149901.htm

[Wonderboy]

^^ The depletion of our forests is staggering. I saw a man cutting a tree a long Buendia last Friday but it was too late from stopping him because he was already halfway on cutting the tree.

Excellent posting Lewdsaint! True enough, Iloilo is a heritage champion! :)

2007 HCS Calendar

The HCS Board has selected capitols, city halls and municipios as next
year's theme for the HCS calendar. As early as now, we will be
finalizing the line up of 12 structures. One of the prime
considerations for the choices is the availability of a high
resolution photograph of the structure.

We invite everyone to nominate by e-mailing a photo to
ivanhenares@gmail.com or commenting to those already posted at
http://heritageconservationsociety.blogspot.com

[ivanhenares]

Wow! I didn't know about this forum until today. Happy to be on board!

[Wonderboy]

^^ Welcome Ivan! What a pleasant surprise! Everyone, let's welcome Ivan Henares...one of the board of directors of the Heritage Conservation Society! :)

[overtureph]

Welcome Ivan and thanks for promoting heritage conservation.

[Hawayano]

Aloha, Ivan--it's great to have yet another SSC connection to HCS besides our reliable Wonderboy!</