Truth be told, this has been originally an entry long overdue of a write-up on this site since last year. For some reason, I never got around it for that long. While I have now gotten around doing this entry, I feel bad that I am writing about this storied hotel in the most unfortunate of circumstances as the news broke out recently that Mandarin Oriental is closing down its operations later this year. This puts an end to the hotel’s 38 years or so of operation in the city that began with the opening of its iconic hotel building in 1976, housed in a uniquely-designed concrete edifice courtesy of no less…
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Makati’s concrete eyesore: the JAKA Tower
Sometimes, no matter how beautiful or well-planned an area is, there will be eyesores that will stick out like sore thumbs thus ruining the landscape. To be fair, these structures were not meant to be built as such, but their continued existence is something that bugs a lot of people not just because of aesthetics but for safety reasons too. One example is the unfinished JAKA Tower along Ayala Avenue which originally had some grand ambitions to be the tallest building in the country. It was supposed to house the offices of the JAKA group, a company connected to the family of Senator Juan Ponce Enrile. Construction began in 1996…
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the quiet sentinels of Makati
The stretch of Makati Avenue in the busy commercial business district of Makati is an interesting sight by itself, not much because of the tall buildings along this road, but of the 3 monuments that gives this part of the city a distinct flavor, not to mention a reminder of what Philippine heroism is all about. They also share a common history: all 3 were erected in 1972, a project of the Ayala Corporation in, for which sculptor Jose Mendoza was hired to do the work.
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immortalizing Ninoy in Makati
Today the country commemorates the 26th anniversary of the death of Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr. He made a name for himself as a journalist, politician, and brilliant statesman. To many Filipinos, he has become a contemporary national hero of sorts immortalized in streets, paper bills, and of course, monuments. Arguably the most famous of the monuments dedicated to Ninoy would be the monument found along the intersection of Ayala Avenue and Paseo De Roxas in Makati City which reenacts the moments Ninoy was being led away the airport police of Manila International Airport on August 21, 1983, showing courage and strength in the face of the fear which would be…