A news article shared through social media caught the Urban Roamer’s interest recently. It is an article published on Rappler which tells the story of Makati-based homeowner who used to be charged around P24,000 on his electricity bill but managed to cut his bill in half thanks to solar energy that now mainly powers his home. You can read up the story here. It sounds too good to be true, not to mention hard to believe. But with rising electricity costs (hey, we do not have the most expensive electricity in Asia for nothing) and concerns about a possible energy problem that may be looming in the horizon, this seems…
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Ramadan Ends; Congress Opens
Today, our Muslim brethren throughout the country are celebrating Eid’l Fitr, a day of celebration marking the end of the month of Ramadan in the Muslim calendar. Ramadan itself is a sacred month to Muslim just as the Lenten season is to Christians as Muslims practice day-long fasting and sacrifices throughout that period. Owing to the fact that the Muslim calendar is a lunar calendar, the date of Eid’l Fitr varies from year to year. This year actually, the celebration fell on July 28 but the Philippines will be celebrating it as a holiday on the day after, perhaps due to the precedence with the State of the Nation Address happening on…
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“Sentral”: The Iglesia Ni Cristo’s Central Complex
Today marks the centennial anniversary of one of the most influential Philippine-based religious groups, the Iglesia Ni Cristo. While they will be celebrating their centennial at a wider and bigger venue outside Metro Manila, the Ciudad de Victoria complex in Bulacan, particularly in the 25,000-seater outdoor venue Philippine Stadium and the 55,000-seater (the biggest indoor venue in the country) Philippine Arena, the Urban Roamer has chosen to highlight today the INC’s current headquarters, their Central Complex located along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City’s Barangay New Era.
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The Iglesia ni Cristo at F. Manalo, San Juan
The Iglesia ni Cristo, (INC) the religious group founded by Felix Manalo in July 1914, grew in numbers and influence by the 1930s. Even after World War II, in which the INC suffered greatly as well, it still managed to become a dominant force in Philippine society, thanks in part for its practice of bloc-voting that many aspiring politicians sought to have. Perhaps the most visible example of INC’s growth after the war was the building of what would be its central temple and offices in Barrio (now Barangay) Santa Lucia in the then suburban town of San Juan outside Manila. From 1952 to 1968, this would the INC’s “home base,” so…