My previous entry has tackled the story of the quadricentennarian institution that is the University of Santo Tomas, (UST) and the situation that arose by its tricentennial celebration that made it consider to relocate elsewhere so it could meet those needs. The plan was put in place even before the tricentennial, when the Dominicans decided the buy a 21.5 (22 according to some sources) hectare land in Sampaloc, an area known as Sulucan Hills. (interestingly, Sulucan came from either the Tagalog word “sulok” or corner because its location or from “nakikisulok” or living with another’s house which was the situation at the turn of the century as people scrounging for…
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Born within the walls: University of Santo Tomas in Intramuros
The year 2011 marks the quadricentennary of the Philippines’ oldest university continuously in existence: the University of Santo Tomas. Throughout its history, it has truly come a long way to become one of the country’s leading educational institutions. But this journey would not have been possible in the first place had it not been in the will of Manila’s 3rd Archbishop Miguel de Benavides that he would bequeath his library and property for the establishment of an educational institution. It would be 6 years after his death in 1605, that this dream was fully realized with the founding of what was then known as the Colegio Seminario de Santo Tomas…
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Intramuros’ Cardinal Sin monument: then there are 3
Any occasion of some anniversary of some historic event or milestone is an opportunity to put up some statue or monument dedicated either to the event itself or to the person/s being commemorated during that particular event or milestone. The commemoration of Corazon Aquino’s birthday last January 25, 2010 was an occasion for the City of Manila and its yellow-lovin’ mayor to unveil a monument dedicated to her, something we have covered here at the time. Since it was standing right next to the monument of her husband Sen. Ninoy Aquino, I’ve come to learn that this particular part of Intramuros is now called by some as Aquino park.
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The Cultural Center of a nation
On the occasion of the National Arts Month, I thought it would be fitting to close out this month with a little tribute to our country’s arts and cultural center: a landmark aptly titled the Cultural Center of the Philippines or the CCP. Technically, the Cultural Center of the Philippines (in Filipino, Sentrong Pangkultura ng Pilipinas) or CCP refers to the body created in 1966 by virtue of Executive Order 30 as a “trust for..the Filipino people for…preserving and promoting Philippine culture.” But for many people, it will always be identified with its iconic building known formally as the Tanghalang Pambansa (known more as the CCP Main Building or the…