Brought by the Americans when they set foot to colonize the Philippines, Protestantism has grown to make a significant presence in the country’s religious environment that was long dominated by the Roman Catholic Church and, in Mindanao especially, Islam. Interestingly, Protestantism was not introduced to the Filipinos in the same manner the Spaniards introduced Catholicism here. In fact, there were no widespread conversion activities. One can point out the democratic ideals introduced by the Americans, emphasizing on religious freedom and all that. But the more understated reason as to wh Protestantism developed differently in the country is because it was geared more at first to the Americans themselves who came here,…
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Metropolitan Manila: a dream unfulfilled (an Urban Roamer editorial)
As I am writing this entry, heavy rainfall for the past 2-3 days thanks to Typhoon Maring (international name: Trami) has submerged much of Metro Manila under floods…again. While in a way, this highlights how serious climate change has affected the global climate, especially here in the Philippines, there is also another issue that lingers in the horizon that few seem to take note of: Manila is a badly planned metropolis. What’s heartbreaking is that this has been foreseen decades bacl, even more than a century ago when Daniel Burnham first laid out his plan for the city. Over the years, we have seen competent planners like Harry Frost, Juan…
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Four and going on for more
It felt like yesterday since I decided to cut on my procrastination and blog about something I’ve long wanted to write about: the city and the metropolis I grew up in. Back then, I never really thought about getting much following. I never intended to beat the number of followers of online celebrities like Carlos Celdran, Ivan Henares, Anton Diaz, the Professional Heckler, and others. All I wanted to do was to be able to have an outlet where I can share my interests and advocacies, no matter how non-mainstream or unpopular they may be. And throughout those four years of blogging, I am thankful for the thousands of people…
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Quiapo and its Golden Mosque
On the occasion of the recent Muslim holiday of Eid’l Fit’r, I decided to take a break from my “Capital Dream” series to write this longstanding article Apart from the Basilica of the Black Nazarene, Quiapo is also well-known for another religious structure that has become an area and city landmark as a whole. Of course, I am talking here of none other than the Masjid Al-Dahab or the Golden Mosque, purportedly the largest mosque located in the metropolis. The mosque was originally built in 1976 as a project of then First Lady Imelda Marcos in time for a planned visit by the leader of Libya back then, Muammar Gadhafi.…