Bahay Rene Santos

A lot has happened since the last time i posted here in my blog. I took my medicine course more seriously, I've met new friends and got along old ones, attended seminars and hearings; and now i find myself posting new content in a term when time is precious.

This 2015, i mustered enough guts to come close with heritage houses that i usually pass by, but afraid to know more about them due to the neighborhood. The Rene Santos was one of the houses i'll never forget meeting. I always pass the Bahay Rene Santos when riding a jeepney to school and going home.It just so happens that on a Thursday i had one class in the morning and the whole afternoon for myself. I decided to finally approach this old bahay na bato that I've been ignoring for the last 3 years.  At first, I didn't know how to approach the residents since it was my second time doing it; the first was another house at Loyola st. It was a good thing i met a friendly food stall owner posted outside of what seem to be the garage. I told her my business, about being a student in FEU and my passion for old houses and heritage. She gladly told me a bit of the history and that the owner was at home asleep. I asked when the owner will wake up. She replied that the owner just got home after a long day of drinking; apparently a retired man.

While she advised me to wait for the owner to wake up at 5pm, i couldn't help myself but be fascinated by the good state of the house. Its definitely the first heritage house without a marker ive entered thats tidy, clean and not chopped into a dormitory of different rooms for various families. As i see myself staring at blank space for a few minutes, a man with bushy hair and tattered clothes appeared at the door and descended down the stairs, looking well rested.

Don Roman Santos Building

Hi guys I'm alive and ready to pump up some history back in this rusty dusty blog. There are still some bugs i have fix with the like, share FB buttons down below but the tweet button seems to work so please tweet if you have the time, I appreciate it.

Alright, this my friends is the Don Roman Santos building a fancy 6 storey neoclassic inspired building located at Sta. Cruz, Manila. Usually you'll see this building often if either you're from FEATI or commuters to LRT up to Carriedo station. Now i dont know much of my architecture wits so architects out there, please bear with me. The building possesses ionic pillars, ornamental pediment, complemented by sculptures of roman design. Now you may be wondering why a building with this taste in architecture exist in a place where vendors, snatchers, addicts thrive in? ( Literally its just 2 blocks away in a street under the shadows of the hideous elevated LRT transit line.)

Well every beautiful building has its own humble beginnings, and Roman Santos here started as the Monte de Piedad, the Philippines' first ever savings bank back in the 1880s. It was constructed by the Archdiocese of Manila to facilitate the city for the Galleon Trade as the City of Manila was flourishing economically.

In the turn of the American Era, the Americans expanded the main building to hold more loans, it continued to flourish until the start of World War II when Manila took a turn for the worse. The building survived the war and eventually the Asian Financial Crisis and even to this day loans for the poorest of the poor. By that time, the building was added with 4 more floors, leaving the original edifice with added aesthetics.

The Only Steel Church in the world

You read that right my friends, this wonderful piece of Neo-Gothic architecture is the only standing church made out of pre-fabricated steel! (Which means it was made somewhere else and delivered here piece by piece) The name is the Basilica Minore de San Sebastian or better known as San Sebastian church.

One thing that baffles me after discovering this wonderful piece of history is that its been hiding under the buildings of residential condominiums and university campuses. Its hidden at our very own Recto Ave, just behind the San Sebastian College building. You have to walk to Loyola st. and take a turn on Bilibid Viejo st. to get a good view of the whole structure.

The Quiapo Theaters (Part 1)

One of the first gems ive taken pictures of in my expeditions in Manila.

Before i discovered their hidden identities, i pass them almost every time when i was young. Incredibly after i researched more about them, it amazed me to know that Quiapo was one of the most brightest areas in Manila; an incredible diamond in a rough. There were numerous stand-alone theaters scattered all over Quiapo and border Sampaloc before World War II, lining the streets with magnificent works of art-deco and entertainment. The sky was awake at night with these theaters, people from afar would come to Manila and die to hope to watch at least one the theaters. Ah those were the glory days.... Now but a history long forgotten, the names Galaxy and Bellevue theaters don't ring a bell in our present days because most of the theaters have been let out to rot and abused while some were fated to face the iron wrecking ball, reducing their proud facades to rubble. Their great days as theaters are now lost from the entertainment industry to moth-balled textbooks and various webpages. I'll be posting more about them in the near future, but for now let me introduce you to the most noticeable ones in the area.

If you ever see yourself passing by near Quiapo Church, better take a look at these art-deco treasures.

The First National Bank Building

Built around 1915, The First National Bank Building (The rectangular building on the right) is only one of the few buildings in Manila that survived World War II The Battle of Manila. The neoclassic facade gives a majestic presence and beauty as such to compete with the Museums of Rizal Park! The first time i saw this building before its current state was left out dilapidated with grime just like its neighbor the El Hogar Filipino Building (left). The current new owner, The Juan Luna E-services seems to know a thing or two about adaptive reuse unlike some private companies who are ignorant enough to belittle heritage buildings demolishing them to make way for their condos and malls all in the name of good business, the new owners are currently renovating and retrofitting the latter as the new home for the call center industry!

This gorgeous building definitely deserves the attention its having; it has been given a second chance to bring back life in the city. Let it be a lesson and a reminder to all of us out there on how important these heritage buildings to us and to the identity of the city. Sometimes in order to be successful in the future, you need  to learn from the past. I can only wish, that another good-hearten owner would do the same to El Hogar and to the rest of the neglected heritage out there. Think how Manila would be, if it retained its post-war beauty...

Then the title of "The Paris of Asia" would not be no more a thing of the past....

The First Expedition

The On-foot Route: Prologue

Original Date: October 20, 2013

There i was ready to run out the door and see the new world around me. I wanted my first expedition to be special and meaningful so i did not took the jeepney nor the LRT to reach my destination. I started from G-Tuazon, Sampaloc, and went straight forward down to Lacson Avenue. Both G-Tuazon and Lacson Avenue were long and took me probably 30 minutes of walking to reach their intersections. There might be a shorter route but i only followed the jeepney's route to Quiapo and after going through some corners left and right, i ended up at Loyola st. There was nothing special from the streets and corners i went through, although they all shared a common thing: Neglected. There were lampposts with no lights, some with no lamps at all, the walls of buildings were grimy with some having their paints peel off from the pollution, and  a scattering of homeless people and vagues, sleeping in the shade of nooks and crannies which really made the place look like an post-pandemic attack!

Anyways my first destination was the Manila City Hall, the most iconic landmark in the city. There were rumors that the building is haunted with restless spirits from WWII, so i wanted to check those halls myself. I took a brake at the Jollibee fast-food chain near Loyola-Recto, grab a bite to eat and looked at my handy-dandy smartphone for google maps. Oh did i forgot to mention i was studying at Far Eastern University? That's why i fairly memorize the place; But my sense of directions will be tested later on. The map showed me that the quickest way to reach the city hall was to cross the Quezon Bridge coming from Quezon Boulevard. Feeling energized and ready to go, i took my last sip of coke zero and left to reach Quezon Boulevard. It was tricky at first cause i hardly noticed there was an underpass somewhere near the Isetann mall alas it all made sense after a few attempts to cross to the street. Its amazing how Filipinos find a way to make a living in small areas no smaller than the restroom i went to at Jollibee.

As i make my way towards the end of the boulevard, that's when it struck me.... I finally saw the gems of Manila.

Greetings, Salutations, and welcome.

To my curious visitors, i greet you a fair welcome.

This is my first time making a blog about anything so please tolerate any grammatical errors i might made or the rough flow of my stories.

I would like to begin my first blog, by giving you a short story of how i became enthusiastic about Manila and anything related to its deep rich history and the treasures it hides. Please do bear with me. I started my expeditions alone sometime in October of 2013 after hearing news about Manila's old history and heritage following with the recent changes made by Mayor Joseph Estrada of Manila in Quiapo, Binondo, and some parts of the tourism belt in Manila and i wonder where those mentioned areas were. I've been living in Manila since birth for 17 years as of this writing, and from that time i only knew little of my home. I never experienced the life outside the province because my family was never born in one (or perhaps got separated from our family tree) so i started treating Manila as my own home province.

I was very enthusiastic to see these gems, but since i was not the type of person who would ask for directions from strangers, i always carry my phone and use Google Maps as my guide. These places like Luneta Park, Quaipo Church, Intramuros, Escolta, and others that once glimmered into the bright light of the once known "Paris of Asia" or the "Pearl of the Orient" was very lingering to the ear. I only packed the essentials such as water, towels, an umbrella, and pocket money for my expeditions. Its not much of an expedition as more of a quest since i always walk alone in my adventures, seeking the peace of mind i solely look for. Apart from reading this welcoming note, these first few posts i will try my best to relive my previous experiences and hopefully rewrite them seemingly clear as if you yourself were there to witness it at the same day. I plan to catch up after this and hopefully update the blog, the day after my expedition. In the near future, i may start to explore the nearby cities such as Makati, but it guess that's for another time.

The goal of this blog is to promote awareness of heritage and culture to the people of Manila, and t show the local government our hidden talents and propsals to urban plan the area. If as you are reading this post a few years after, heritage houses are being town down left to right, and i dont just mean bahay-na-batos or old churches. The arts-decos, neoclassicals, and international style will also be introduced for the well-being of these people; To be aware and be part of the change to save these heritage houses for it themselves give the filipinos their true identity and that is something to be proud of.

So i guess, this is the end of my welcoming note, i do hope you enjoy my blog. Any suggestions, comments, opinions, or any of the sort is very welcome as long as it is asked in the utmost disciplinary way. Again thank you and let the expedition begin.

- Peter Danielle Q. Rallos