Aside from the previously touched upon Plaza Amado V. Hernandez, there are at least a couple of plazas in Tondo that are significant in their own right. Let’s check out these two Tondo plazas and their respective histories and points of interest.
Plaza Morga
At the heart of Tondo
What is there to say about Tondo? On second thought, maybe it’s a question that should not be asked in the first place.
The thing about Tondo is that, to say the least, it is a place that evokes strong perceptions and sentiments. For one, there is the image of urban squalor and decay that has afflicted Manila and the metropolis in general. Then there is the atmosphere of “toughness” that has been the source of negative perceptions (thanks in part to its history as a den of crime and gangsters especially during the 1950s-60s), as well as positive ones (the “Tondo pride” as some may consider it).
Being someone who has largely known Tondo through various media, and having only briefly set foot in the area just once or twice before, Tondo was a place that merited a bit more of that urban roaming. However, at the back of my mind, there is that feeling of uncertainty and the instinct to be more cautious than usual.