The month of September has been considered by some as a bad month of the year. The world associates this month with terrorist attacks in New York on September 11, 2001. In the Philippines, September has been associated with events of September 21, 1972 when President Ferdinand Marcos declared Martial Law.
September 2014 was no different, sad to say. From what has occurred with the Army and Navy Club Building which has alarmed concerned citizens to the brazen disregard by Anchor Land of Admiral Hotel’s heritage. (despite what some quarters may say otherwise) Then there were plans to relocate the Anda Monument from its original location in Anda Circle as a way to help ease traffic in the Intramuros-Port Area.
While there were not much objections moving the Anda Monument as long as the monument is not destroyed in the process, word has it recently that the planned relocation would not push through after all as it was deemed that the structure is not safe to be transferred. The report also states that a cease and desist order (CDO) was issued by the National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) against the transfer as it has jurisdiction over the Anda Circle since “it is on the buffer zone of Intramuros which has a declared World Heritage Site—the San Agustin Church.”
That being said, I hope the Anda Monument gets to maintained as well as it should be like making sure it does not get defaced by graffiti. That’s the least that can be done to show that we do value heritage in the midst of those unfortunate events that transpired last month.
On the other hand, one has to wonder what is going to be done now in the Anda Circle area as to those plans of relieving traffic in the area now that the plan to move the monument has been ditched. Will the Anda Circle itself be lessened in area or will it just be left as it is right now? That remains to be answered at the moment.
Acknowledgements to the Philippine Daily Inquirer
