As long-time readers and those who long been following the Urban Roamer would know, I have long been appreciating heritage. Over the years, I have been fortunate to meet a number of people who are passionate about it as well, thus helping me expand my knowledge and appreciation about our heritage and somehow become part of a continuing struggle to preserve what is left. That struggle, sadly, is an uphill battle that is not easy to win. In fact, a number of these battles turned out to be bitter and devastating defeats on the part of heritage. While it is easy to pinpoint blame as to who are responsible for…
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Santa Ana Revisited
It has been a while since the Urban Roamer last visited the historic district of Santa Ana in Manila. At that time, the series was written based on the Urban Roamer’s scant knowledge of district as gathered from third party sources. Over time, I have gotten to learn some new things about this district, most especially recently thanks to my interaction with people who know a great deal about the district itself, not to mention the opportunity to explore more in depth at least parts of it thanks to my work as a volunteer for the Cultural Heritage Mapping Project of Wikimedia Philippines supported by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines. That…
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The Admiral Hotel and Anchor Land’s Deception
Lately, Philippine heritage, most especially Manila heritage, has come under attack no less thanks to big developers who aim to “redevelop” those structures into something more…modern and commercially viable. And unfortunately in a number of cases, “redevelopment” for them means: “we’ll tear this old, historic building down and build something modern that is devoid of historic value, heritage be damned.” That may be the way of thinking developer Anchor Land has when it has decided to demolish the almost 80-year old Admiral Hotel and build a new structure which would be a boutique hotel that will, in their words, “keep its heritage alive and ensure that it remains as a historical…
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Reviving Quiapo’s Heritage: The Story of the Padilla House
It has often been stressed here and in other sites that Manila’s Quiapo district is like a diamond in the mud. There are so many beauty to be discovered in the midst of the urban decay which sadly permeates this part of the city. Nevertheless, there are some reasons to be hopeful for Quiapo, with the presence of preserved landmarks like the Bahay Nakpil-Bautista, the ongoing efforts to restore Kasa Boix, and a revived heritage structure which the Urban Roamer will be writing about today, the Padilla House.