Mabini150: Mabini and Nagtahan

If there is one place in the metropolis that has a solid association with Apolinario Mabini, it would be the road and the neighborhood called Nagtahan which straddles between the present-day districts of San Miguel and Santa Mesa in the City of Manila.

flyover at Nagtahan, 2014

Nagtahan got its name from a word in Tagalog which means to stop or end. It was named so because in the olden days, Calle Nagtahan was a dead end, ending a few meters before the bank of the Pasig River. Despite that, it grew as a rural suburb of Manila during the late Spanish colonial period as some decided to take residence in the area. One of them happened to be Apolinario Mabini’s brother, Agapito, who married a woman belonging to a somewhat landed family, the Del Rosarios.

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Manila’s First Flyover

It is said that during the late 1930’s, at a time when Manuel Quezon served as President of the self-governing Philippine Commonwealth, he was keeping a mistress who lived in what was then the affluent district of Santa Mesa. So he would pay her a visit from time to time on a strict timeframe, something which was of convenience as well since he also maintained a residence in the area. (as well as some other prominent Filipinos during the prewar period)

One day however, in one of those visits, Quezon and his entourage was stopped by a passing train along the railroad tracks that intersected Santa Mesa Boulevard. Being in a hurry and his strict timeframe cut short, Quezon was fuming mad at that incident that he ordered the Public Works office to have an overhead bridge constructed along the boulevard, built over the railroad tracks, for the benefit of the passing vehicles.

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Some quick love in the city: Santa Mesa’s “motel row”

Disclaimer: the following contents of this entry may contain some “inappropriate” ideas or language, in which the urban roamer apologizes for but deems them necessary for the entry. Be guided accordingly. Thank you! If you’re a first-time visitor to this part of Manila, to this part of Santa Mesa in particular, you might be surprised … Read more

Santa Mesa’s “university town”: the “university street” of Teresa

Right outside the main gates of PUP Mabini Campus is Teresa Street, which also serves to connect the campus to Santa Mesa’s main thoroughfare Old Sta. Mesa Street. The street is said to be named after the wife of Don Gonzalo Tuason (or Tuazon) from landed Tuason family which owned wide tracts land which happened … Read more