Born of a Chinese immigrant from Fujian, Roman Ongpin, like many Filipino-Chinese, grew up being trained for business by his father. He would eventually become a successful businessman in his right when he opened up an arts supplies store named “El 82” on March 1, 1882 (thus the name El 82) along Rosario Street in Binondo. (which is now known today as Quintin Paredes Street) It would become the place to go for arts supplies over the years as prominent artists like Juan Luna, Fabian dela Rosa, and Fernando Amorsolo would frequent the store for their needs. But apart from his success in business and the support for the arts…
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Of Binondo’s “New Chinatown”
There has been so much talk about the need to revitalize the City of Manila. With so many plans being done or still in that “pipeline hell” to answer that particular need, there is one particular plan that has generated much interest and controversy at the same time. To say the least, it is an interesting development plan to look out for as this one aims to put a different face to the overall makeup not only of downtown Manila, but also the popular shopping district of the Binondo-Divisoria area. Dubbed as “Cityplace,” this is a residential/commercial development project masterminded by Megaworld: the same developers behind Eastwood City, McKinley Hill,…
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The “IT hub” in Gilmore Avenue
The New Manila of the old, as was noted before, was mostly a residential enclave among the upper and middle class families. Whatever commercial activity there was in the area in those days were minimal and did not do much to alter the landscape of the neighborhood. But in recent years, commercial activity in the area began to spike. Partly contributing to the commercial development is the influx of a new industry: the computer retailers that set businesses left and right mostly concentrated along that patch of road called Gilmore Avenue.* *Interestingly, Gilmore Avenue was named after a person who had nothing to do with technology matters. It was named…
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The residences of New Manila
During the American colonial period in the Philippines, particularly during the 1920’s-1930’s, the country’s capital city Manila was experiencing unprecedented progress and commercial expansion. Along with it came the creeping problems brought about by such progress, though back then, they were as grave as they are today. For Manila’s upper and middle class families, these changes brought out much stress that they consider moving to Manila’s outskirts or suburbs instead. This was not left unnoticed by the property developers of the time as they scrambled to develop what was then a vast wilderness found a few kilometers outside the city limits.