Walk for a Better Manila

I saw this post on Carlos Celdran's Facebook account inviting people to Walk for a Better Manila.  It's a free guided walking tour at Luneta Park, going to the National Museum, the Manila City Hall and the Post Office.  I wanted to go and luckily Em was still in Manila and had Saturday morning free so we were able to join. 


One of the goals of this activity was to deliver the petition to suspend the building permit of DMCI's Torre de Manila. If it pushes through, it will destroy the skyline at Luneta, forever photobombing the Rizal Monument. I signed the petition via Change.org and I'm glad to also be part of handing it over to the government. Let's see what happens next.


There is a lot of repairs/reconstruction going on at the Rizal Park.  We could not go nearer to the monument because the area was cordoned off.  A temporary inconvenience but if it makes the park better, I'm all for it.

Carlos is pointing to where the DMCI building would be located, if they do not stop the construction.


We were a good-sized group.  We started walking from the Rizal Monument and entered one of the pocket gardens (forgot the name) on the way to the National Museum.

We stopped at the National Museum for maybe 30 minutes.  The last time I was here was in college to fulfill a requirement for my Humanities class.  Entrance is free for the whole month of October and free all Sundays of the year.  If you have not been to the National Museum, I highly encourage it.



Sister date.

Juan Luna's Spoliarium.

On the way to Manila City Hall.

Inside the Manila City Hall.

Delivering the petition to Councilor Bagatsing.

Next two pictures are from the Change.Org Facebook page.


Sat on Erap's desk.

Final stop, the Post Office.

We were not given full access to the ground floor because they were filming an advertisement with Ogie Alcasid.

I do not have Manila roots but I do care about conservation.  I believe it's important to preserve the old buildings and make them relevant to the times so that people continue to appreciate our history and heritage.  Makati or The Fort may be the modern face of the country but we all need a Manila to anchor us to our roots as a people.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Around the Internet 12.09.11

Image
This week's notable links are related to world population.  I tend to be interested in a subject, read about it and discover these links. 7 Billion on National Geographic .  Special series on the world's 7B population, with stories and discussions.  They have a counter of world population as well. 7 Billion Actions .  A site where anyone can upload a story, highlighting positive action.  I was checking through the site and was encouraged by all the good work that people do.  Really, we can be hopeful.  It's just a pity that only the sensational negative stories get highlighted in the media.  Positive stories are found right here.  And thanks to the internet for making this possible. What's Your Number?   7 billion is an overwhelming number.  This site let's you enter your birthday and plots you on the population chart and identifies your specific number (datapoint).  Of course this is not perfect and employs some algorithm to estimate where you are on the cha
Read more

It's Not Complicated: Samson and Delilah, Ruth and Boaz

Image
The last two topics for the preaching series on love entitled 'It's Not Complicated' were on Samson and Delilah, and Ruth and Boaz. ( Podcast here ) Samson and Delilah .  The story of Samson and Delilah can be found in Judges 13.  Before Samson was born, his mother was visited by an angel who said to her, "You will become pregnant and have a son whose head is never to be touched by a razorbecause the boy is to be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from the womb. He will take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”  Samson was destined to lead and deliver Israel from its enemies.  But we know that his life was far from simple.  He made personal decisions that changed the course of his life, including marrying Delilah, which eventually led to his death.  It's a tragic story and Pastor Joe explained why it happened to Samson - wrong place, wrong standard, wrong person. Samson, although he was set apart as a Nazirite, spent time in Philistin
Read more

Filipino Friday 3: Reading Habits and Book Formats

Image
Reading Habits and Book Formats . Where and how do you read? Can you read anywhere and everywhere, or do you need a certain place/mood/state of mind to get reading? Do you read more in the morning or at night or any minute that you can? Where and how do you usually read? Are you exclusively for print, or do you go for ebooks more than print? Have you ever tried audiobooks? I am old school.  Even as most books now have digital versions, I still prefer the physical, ink-on-paper variety.  I like holding a real book, flipping the pages and being able to see my progress based on the thickness of read/unread pages.  Somehow, I feel more engaged and focused reading a physical book vs. from a gadget. I very rarely reread books so most of my collection just sit on the shelf after I'm done with them.  I feel it's a waste of precious trees if they are not shared with others.  So I started a Google doc at work where the team can list down their collections and anybody interested in
Read more