While the current talk in global affairs is about the conflict of Syria and the possible involvement of the US and whoever of its allies willing to join, Metro Manila is seeing a conflict of its own too as two highly-urbanized cities and a small municipality are engaged in all-out war of sorts for the control of the most disputed territory in the country right now, the almost 730-hectare territory which was once part of a vast military complex known as Fort Bonifacio. The battle for the control of this former military base turned into a bustling commercial and business district has been subject of a long ligation that has…
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Protestantism in the metropolis: The Union Church of Manila
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…