Today, Manila is all abuzz for two things happening today: the arrival of US President Barack Obama and the reopening of operations of the Pasig River Ferry service. The Urban Roamer will deal with the highlights of the Obama visit as it happens but right now, we will be dealing with today’s reopening of the Pasig River Ferry service in this entry.
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A US President In Manila
As the Philippines’ capital and seat of government, Manila has seen various heads of state and government who have come here for state or working visits in the country. However, for many Filipinos, there is no greater impact of such visits than that of the President of the United States. Then again, that should come as no surprise given the United States’ position today as a global superpower and more importantly, the historical ties that existed ever since the Philippines first became an American colony in 1898. Thus, the high level of anticipation being seen at this time for the upcoming state visit of US President Barack Obama on April 28. It…
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Closure To A Crisis
Almost four years have passed since the tragic events of August 23, 2010 at Quirino Grandstand. It was a hostage situation gone horribly wrong as it resulted in the death not only of the perpetrator/suspect, but also of 8 tourists who came from Hong Kong. It was a case of crisis mismanagement on the part of various parties, from the police to the local executives then of Manila, (especially the then “yellow” mayor of the city) as well as the concerned officials on the national level. It marked a new low in Philippine-Hong Kong relations as it resulted in getting the Philippines placed under the Hong Kong travel blacklist as…
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Goodbye For Good, Pandacan Oil Depots?
While so much was going for the past few weeks or so, the Urban Roamer feels so ashamed to miss this news item that came out on April 3. My apologies for the oversight. That piece of news concerned about a new development in the continuing saga of the Pandacan Oil Depots as former president turned Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada issued an ultimatum to the 3 oil companies (namely Shell, Chevron, and Petron) who have operations in the district that they only have until January 31, 2016 to move out their operations there or else the city government will do the shutting down for them.