Given the state of how the Philippine television industry works, we do not really have much venues that broadcast TV programs which are located outside the studio complex of the broadcaster. Then again, such venues like New York City’s Ed Sullivan Theater where US late night program The Late Show (of both David Letterman and Stephen Colbert) are a rarity themselves. There is, however, one notable example broadcast venue located beyond the studio complex, of GMA Network in this case. Today, this urban roaming takes us to that Quezon City landmark known as Broadway Centrum. Knowing its geography and history gives one the impression that its name connotes more than…
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Heritage and some Kapuso history: the Calvo Building at Escolta
Long before Makati’s Ayala Avenue, Manila’s premier street business for any business or commercial establishment would be that one street in Manila’s Binondo district known as Escolta. From the late 19th century to the 1960’s, Escolta was a thriving street of trade and commerce. At its height in the 1930’s the whole street was lined with elegant buildings from end to end, most of them sporting classy architecture that dominated and beautified Manila’s skyline. One of those buildings that rose during that period was a little building near the corner of Escolta and Calle Soda called the Calvo Building. (or to the Hispanics like the Calvo family who had it…