It was a hot and humid day in late October when the Urban Roamer decided to take a walk, passing along the GSIS Metrohomes. Completed and started to be occupied by the early 1990’s, the GSIS Metrohomes were first conceived as low-cost housing solution. The buildings speak for themselves on that aspect, though they may have seen better days. One could not help notice the faded paint and be distracted by the sight of clothes being hanged outside the windows. (is there anyone who does some checking for the buildings’ maintenance in the first place?) If there was one thing that made up for the project’s shortcomings, back then it…
-
-
a shrine for a “forgotten” saint
On regular days, this part of the district of San Miguel in Manila stands in guarded silence, as human and steel sentinels have been assigned here to protect the district’s most important structure, as well as its most important occupant. Thursdays here though are a different story, as these sentinels greet a somewhat greater crowd of people from all walks of life. They are Catholics and devotees who make their way every Thursday as a sign of their devotion to their patron, St. Jude Thaddeus.
-
Tales of a disappearing plaza and a moving monument
A plaza has been generally defined as an open space, serving the “village center” where people converge to do business or be entertained. And in the olden days of the city, long before malls, television, and the Internet became part of our lives, the plaza was the place to be to “hang out” and relax. Here in the metropolis though, many plazas here now mean a different thing, thanks in part to the influence of urbanization. Nowadays a number of plazas of the old have somewhat disappeared in the midst of bad traffic, parked vehicles, and urban landscaping gone wrong. (horribly wrong in some cases)
-
Bacood untied
Situated along the banks of the rivers Pasig and San Juan, quite removed from the busy and traffic-laden streets of Manila’s Santa Mesa district is a community (more like a subdistrict or a sitio of sorts) known as Bacood. Bacood’s name comes from the Tagalog word “bakood” which would mean either an elevated area or a cane plantation. It has been said that the area back then served as a plantation for various crops. But in the early days, Bacood was known as Cordeleria, a Spanish term for a shop that sells ropes. This was because the place back then was the center of rope-making and selling activity in Manila…