The Gota de Leche of Sampaloc

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If you find yourself somewhere in the middle of Manila’s “University Belt” in Sampaloc disttrict, you may have chanced upon this nicely-preserved American-era building and some fresh patch of green which is a welcome sight in the midst of the area’s frentic activity and some unfortunately-dilapidated structures nearby. For someone who had often roamed around U-Belt back in college, I have always wondered about this structure. I was lucky to have gotten access to this place and appreciate this preserved heritage of old Manila in Sampaloc.

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The story behind this building began in 1905, (some sources however say it’s 1907) when industrialist and philanthropist Teodoro Yangco and a group of women’s rights advocates (included among them would be the founder of Centro Escolar University, Librada Avelino) founded the La Proteccion de la Infancia, Inc., (LPI) considered to be the first and oldest non-sectarian charity organization in the country. Its aim was to look after the welfare of children at a time when child mortality, malnutrition, and other diseases were on alarmingly high rate. LPI decided to embark on a milk-feeding program for the children, as well as helping out their mothers as well.

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With its widening operations and expansion over the years, there came a need to move from its original home in Evangelista Street in Quiapo. Yangco donated a parcel of his land along Lepanto Street up in Sampaloc. The construction of its new office fell onto the hands of 2 architects, Arcadio Arellano and his younger brother Juan, who was fresh out of his architectural education in the US. The project one of the first ones the brothers would collaborrate on for the next 3 years. For Juan, this would be one of the first architectural projects he would take, as he would go to build more iconic landmarks ahead like the Post Office Building and the Metropolitan Theater, to name a few.

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Manila’s Flower Market: a place called Dangwa

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Come Valentines or All Saints Day, this part of Manila is bustling with activity. Then again, this particular area is always busy with commercial activity, though not as frantic as the aforementioned occasions.

Of course, I am referring here to Manila’s “Flower Market” or the “Bulaklakan ng Maynila,” but known more to locals as “Dangwa:” the name of the passenger bus transport company which used to transport the flowers there which come all the way from the Cordillera highlands in the northern part of the country. While Dangwa no longer seems to ply to and from the city, the memory of these buses carrying the flowers to be sold persist in the city’s collective memory.

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Heritage endangered: the old MERALCO Building at San Marcelino Street, Manila

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Last weekend, the Internet and Manila’s heritage community was rocked with a shocking development: the demolition of a heritage structure along San Marcelino Street in Ermita, Manila near Adamson University. The structure in question being the old headquarters of MERALCO, or the Manila Electric Rail and Light Company as it was first known.

First established in 1903 from the franchise given by the American government to an American businessman named Charles Swift to operate the city’s planned electric tramways or tranvias, MERALCO established its first offices in San Marcelino 2 years later, serving as a depot of sorts for the tranvias they operate.

The MERALCO Head Office in San Marcelino during its heyday (courtesy of www.ivanhenares.com)

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Welcome! Mabuhay! (AKA that Rotonda in Quezon City)

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There’s something about how Metro Manila loves rotondas, never mind if many motorists don’t know how to use them properly. If the presence of a number of rotondas in the metropolis can be taken as evidence of such. Even though some of these places no longer have the physical rotondas, the presence of rotondas in … Read more