City of Manila Archives - Page 26 of 63

Manila1945: The UST Standoff

February 8, 2015 by The Urban Roamer

When the Japanese occupied Manila in January 1942, they took control of the then-newly established campus of University of Santo Tomas in the city’s Sampaloc district. With such a large tract of property and the large structures there that were already standing by that time, notably the UST Main Building and the old Education Building, (now occupied by the UST Hospital) the Japanese decided to convert the campus into an the Santo Tomas Internment Camp.

The Japanese rounded up about 4,000 foreign individuals, mostly American and British nationals who were deemed as “hostile aliens” by the Japanese and isolated them in the different buildings in the campus, most notably the Main Building. With that, the Santo Tomas Internment Camp was the largest internment camp the Japanese set up during the war; the internees organized themselves as an effort to make do of the situation. At first, the internment wards gave the prisoners some relative freedom so visitors could come and give them needed goods, not to mention some intelligence information, along the way. But as the tide of war was turning against Japan, the prisoners were given harsher treatment which was coupled by a shortening food supply which has resulted into malnourishment, if not death, among the internees. Such were the state of things as February 1945 entered.

Legarda Elementary School: Manila’s Heritage School

January 25, 2015 by The Urban Roamer

There was a time when public schools in Manila, and in the Philippines as a whole, were regarded highly for two things: quality education (which at that time surpasses that of private schools) and their architectural quality were landmarks to behold.

Today, public education is going through some tough times as it is being hounded with lack of resources and a growing student population that not many schools could accommodate. In the midst of all these, there is the Legarda Elementary School.

The Vatican’s Manila Outpost

January 16, 2015 by The Urban Roamer

In the current flurry of activity in the papal visit of Pope Francis, one spot that has been getting much of the attention in the media and in the public at this time is the place where he is staying, the Apostolic Nunciature to the Philippines in Manila.

In fact, the Nunciature also played home to the previous papal visits of Paul VI and John Paul II, following a standard procedure that visiting pontiffs would usually stay at the apostolic nunciature of the country they visit if there is such.

Unfortunately, there is not much documentation, text or photos, of the Apostolic Nunciature here as the structure is obscured by high walls and and trees block the view of what it looks like. It has been standing in quiet existence most of the time, in the midst of the flurry of urban activity that surrounds it, not to mention being located in the City of Manila itself.

The Saga of MLQU

December 6, 2014December 4, 2014 by The Urban Roamer

Firstly, a disclosure: the Urban Roamer is an alumnus of the Manuel L. Quezon University. Technically, I only studied there for 2 1/2 years as a transfer student (long story) but considering this is the school from which I graduated, I suppose the MLQU aspect of my college education should weigh a bit more.

Thus, my interest gets piqued with any news that comes my way about my alma mater, like the one I will be sharing later on in this post. But before we go further, I suppose this is a good opportunity as well to talk about this underrated institution in the heart of Manila.