• Quezon City

    The soul of Quezon City (part 1): the Quezon Memorial Shrine

    Before August became known lately as the month of the Aquinos, (being the month when Benigno Aquino Jr., and his wife Corazon, the former president died) this month has been identified mainly as the month of the first president of the US-sponsored Commonwealth government, the“father of the Philippine national language”, and the “father of Quezon City” Manuel Quezon whose birth and death fall on the same month. (being born on the 1st and died on the 19th) As such, it is but fitting that we dedicate this entry to this feisty character and his contribution to the urban landscape we know today. For all the things, good or ill, that…

  • City of Manila

    The city remembers the woman in yellow

    It was been more than 5 months now since former Philippine President Corazon C. Aquino passed away after a long bout with cancer. Not to mention the “yellow fever” that came along with that. Which has led to a chain of events in which the details would lead us astray from the topic here at hand. And for those who are still stricken or just had about enough of the yellow fever, guess what. Cory magic is here again as the country commemorated on January 25 what would have been the 77th birthday of the woman we know as Cory, the woman in yellow.

  • City of Manila,  San Juan

    the most awkward-looking Rizal ever

    Today marks another commemoration of the martyrdom of the Philippines’ national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal. And being the country’s national hero, you can never escape his name and image almost everywhere you go, from the streets you traverse to the matches you use. Then again, he is THE national hero so there’s not much one can do about that. That principle will also apply whenever we come to see him standing in front of some town plaza or municipal/city/provincial hall in his trademark long black overcoat and, sometimes, holding a book or two on his chest as if he was about to sing the National Anthem. This particular monument of…

  • Makati

    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…