Saturday, August 30, 2008

12 LITTLE THINGS EVERY FILIPINO CAN DO

No. 1 - Follow traffic rules. Follow the law.



No. 2 - Whenever you buy or pay for anything, always ask for an official receipt.



No. 3 - Don't buy smuggled goods. Buy local. Buy Filipino.



No. 4 - When you talk to others, especially foreigners, speak positively
about us
and our country.



No. 5 - Respect your traffic officer, policeman and soldier.



No. 6 - Do not litter. Dispose your garbage properly.
Segregate. Recycle. Conserve.



No. 7 - Support your church.



No. 8 - During elections, do your solemn duty.



No. 9 - Pay your employees well.



No. 10 - Pay your taxes.



No. 11 - Adopt a scholar or a poor child.



No. 12 - Be a good parent. Teach your kids to follow the law
and love our country.



I bet you're wondering what this is all about.

It's about a little book, "12 Little Things Every Filipino Can Do To Help Our Country," 105 pages, written by Alexander Lacson, 40, a lawyer by profession, a UP graduate, College of Law Class 1996, with postgraduate studies at Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.


Four years ago, he and his wife Pia had a serious discussion about migrating to the US or Canada because the Philippines appeared hopeless as it only got worse year after year. They asked themselves this question: “Will the Philippines progress in the next 20 years?” If the answer was yes, they’d stay. If no, they would leave and relocate.

After a long discussion, they could not give a definite answer to the question, until they realized that the answer to that question is actually in them. They also realized that the answer is in us as a people, that hope is in us as a people.

Since then, Alexander and Pia decided to do more for their country. Thus, this book — one way of their ways of doing more for the country.


P150.00 at National Book Store


I won't go into details here, for these 12 basic steps are self-explanatory but the author's arguments are valid and his recommendations, feasible. Get a copy. It's a quick read and besides, you may be inspired to become a part of the solution to alleviate our country's ills.

And If you agree with what this book says as doable, buy one for a friend, and then request that friend to give a copy as well to another friend. Come to think of it, our balikbayan friends and relatives should buy some copies to bring back as pasalubong to our compatriots abroad.

To buy copies, you may call at these telephone numbers: 840-0338 to 41.

You may also contact the author via email: alacsonph@yahoo.com




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Please note:
I very much appreciate my articles and photos appearing on fellow bloggers' sites, popular broadsheets, and local broadcast news segments, but I would appreciate even more a request for permission first.
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posted by Señor Enrique at 10:45 AM | 71 comments


Friday, August 29, 2008

MUHIBAH


It is the inflight magazine of Royal Brunei Airlines. Three of my photographs were published in its May/June 2008 issue to accompany an article that explores the charming side of Manila -- its historical splendor and cultural legacies.







A special thanks to Ivan Man Dy for facilitating this terrific opportunity!





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I very much appreciate my articles and photos appearing on fellow bloggers' sites, popular broadsheets, and local broadcast news segments, but I would appreciate even more a request for permission first.
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posted by Señor Enrique at 10:00 AM | 30 comments


CENTRAL MARKET - SANTA CRUZ, MANILA



















This was where my brothers, cousins and I used to buy the fabrics for our shirts and trousers. It was a time when custom-tailored clothing was de rigueur, while ready-to-wear was still at its infancy.

The fabrics used in those trendy clothes worn by our favorite pop stars as featured in teen magazines, or in those glossy Japanese men's magazines, could be found at Central Market -- from Oxford cottons to Indian madras, and from corduroys to denims. And the local tailor could easily make any piece of clothing that you wanted as long as he was shown a picture of it.

When I came back to Manila a few years ago, many of the local tailors and dressmakers had closed shop; the influx of ready-to-wear clothing -- both locally-produced and imported -- had made them extinct. Consequently, many of the fabric and haberdashery establishments at Central Market had also disappeared, to be replaced by the abundance of frame shops and ironically, ready-to-wear and ukay-ukay stalls.

Located at Fugoso Street and Quezon Boulevard in Santa Cruz, Manila, Central Market went through a major renovation during the Atienza administration. However, despite its airy and refurbished setting, it no longer attracts as large a crowd as it used to. But nonetheless, with its wet market, Central Market appears to amply serve the Manileños of the southeastern district.


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Related link:

Tupe: a frame shop at Central Market






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posted by Señor Enrique at 6:19 AM | 13 comments


Thursday, August 28, 2008

HISTORIC WASTELAND


The photograph above of the parking lot on Avenida Rizal was taken a couple of days ago. This is the site where the historic Avenue Theater & Hotel building once stood, designed by one of the country's great architects, Juan Nakpil. Built more than 70 years ago, it was completely demolished two years ago.

The photo at the bottom of Avenida Rizal was taken immediately after the war. The tall building in the middle was one of the few buildings that remained standing and unscathed after the intense carpet bombing during the Battle for Manila. It was the Avenue Theater & Hotel building. (Photo courtesy of UW Digital Collections)





RELATED LINKS:

Avenue Theater: End of an Era

Capitol Theater on Escolta

Sigh-Sigh-Sigh - Walk This Way





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posted by Señor Enrique at 7:27 AM | 8 comments


Wednesday, August 27, 2008

TRIBUTE TO ALL OUR GRANDPARENTS


When doing street photography, I usually shy away from subjects who are enjoying their afternoon siesta; I consider it too private a moment to intrude upon. However, there are scenes I chance upon at times that are too compelling to pass up, like this one which encapsulated the special bond between a child and grandparent.

This scene is a poignant reminder of the many local kids who are being raised by their ageing grandparents because the parents are working in a distant city or overseas.

It's also a reminder of our ageing grandparents living abroad who are tasked to look after the children because both mom and dad are working full-time to make ends meet, and hiring a babysitter is just out of the question.

It's also a reminder of our ageing grandparents working at the McDonalds and Burger Kings in the States and Canada who clean the tables and sweep the floors as we enjoy our breakfasts and lunches.


It's also a reminder of a family friend in New York who was the inspiration behind my story of fiction, A Grand Mother, who passed away about a year ago without realizing her ultimate dream: to return to Manila to live the remaining years of her life.

So, to all our grandparents living here and abroad, God bless and good health!



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RELATED LINKS:

A Child is Waiting

A Cool Siesta

Point & Shoot Street Photography

Siesta Time - My Sari-Sari Store






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I very much appreciate my articles and photos appearing on fellow bloggers' sites, popular broadsheets, and local broadcast news segments, but I would appreciate even more a request for permission first.
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posted by Señor Enrique at 7:22 AM | 13 comments


Tuesday, August 26, 2008

CHINESE GENERAL HOSPITAL


The Chinese General Hospital located in Blumentritt, Santa Cruz, Manila, dates back to the Spanish Period. It was one of Carlos Palanca Tan Quien-Sien's community affairs and philanthropy projects. In 1891, a
long with other wealthy Chinese businessmen such as Chan Guan and Mariano Velasco, he raised the necessary funds and even provided a building for the hospital himself.

Its subsequent funding came from the regular donations provided by the business owners of the Chinese community. Two years after its door first opened, it was officially registered as Hospital de Chino under the Spanish Government.

From its inception as a medical clinic where treatment was free of charge for the Chinese community, it has since expanded into a full-service hospital. In 1917, a major fund raising campaign was launched in which the Chinese community immediately responded by donating a total of P200,000. The windfall funded the construction of the first Chinese General Hospital (CGH) with updated facilities.

The new hospital was inaugurated in 1921 with Dr. Tee Han Kee as its first medical director. He was then the most famous Chinese physician in the country, and had also served as consultant for the Philippine Health Service because of his expertise on bubonic plague, which is believed to have been a mutated swine virus.

In that same year, Dr. Tee Han Kee also founded the
Chinese General Hospital College of Nursing and Liberal Arts (CGHCNLA). With him were three physicians who organized the training school. The Sisters of the Immaculate Conception based in Hong Kong and Canton, China also provided Dr. Tee Han Kee with the much-needed assistance to start the school. The first batch of five sisters arrived in August 1921. Mrs. Praxedes Co Tui, a registered nurse from the Philippine General Hospital was appointed as Chief Nurse and Principal of the School of Nursing.



Many thanks to EM of Bato Bato Pik! for having reminded me that this famous hospital is also located in the historic Blumentritt/La Loma area. Her youngest was born here.





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posted by Señor Enrique at 5:52 AM | 17 comments


Monday, August 25, 2008

NGANGA


Droppings from the neighbor's areca palm tree

Camera: Canon Ixus 65
Aperture: F2.8
Shutter: 1/20 sec



Recommended quick reads on betel-chew tradition:

Hidden in the Heart - Rosa Maria Magno

Betel Chewing in the Philippines - Cynthia Ongpin Valdes

Chewing Betel-Nut with the Mangyans of Mindoro - Howie Severino

The Philippine History - June Mae





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posted by Señor Enrique at 9:56 AM | 26 comments


Sunday, August 24, 2008

LA LOMA


The two things that come to mind when you mention the place La Loma are lechon and the cemetery complex (namely: La Loma, North and Chinese). In jest, Manileños would claim that eating too much of the former can lead to an untimely eternal rest at the latter.

Historically speaking, La Loma, was one of the areas in Manila during the revolution, in which incidents of fierce fighting between the Filipino forces and the Spaniards took place. It was because of a Spanish blockhouse that was located there.

Blockhouses were built as defenses by the Spaniards during the revolution. These had been part of an arc following the land boundaries of Manila, stretching from the Bocana de Vitas in the north to Fort San Antonio Abad (Malate) in the south, and formed what the Spanish called the Primo de Rivera Line.

Blockhouses were built by the Spaniards about one kilometer apart from one another. Most were made of wood protected by an earthwork parapet.
The wooden blockhouses resembles oversized dovecoats (bahay calapate). Others were made of stone and rubble called fortines in Spanish. Of the eight blockhouses north of the Pasig, two were fortines: one at La Loma (designated Blockhouse 2) and the other near the Santa Mesa-San Francisco road going through Barrio Santol, (designated as Blockhouse 7). Wooden blockhouses could accommodate 25 men, while the stone fortines about 40.

During the revolution, the blockhouses were the scene of furious combat between the attacking Filipinos and the defending Spaniards. The rebels constantly harassed the Spaniards on both sides of the city, but the big guns of Malate and Santa Mesa kept the rebels at bay.

On August 13, 1898, as Manila began to capitulate to the Americans, intense fighting went on at Blockhouses 2, 3 and 4 at Maypajo and La Loma, as well as on the central point of Santa Mesa, Pandacan and Nagtahan where the objective was the rotonda (traffic circle of Sampaloc). The Spaniards only left their positions when the American troops relieved them.

After the mock battle of August 13, 1898 between the Americans and the Spaniards, the Filipino revolutionary forces were not allowed to occupy the main portion of Manila. They were even pressured out of the positions they had already occupied, which was mostly in the south.

Major General Elwell S. Otis invoked the terms of the Spanish capitulation to mean turning over to the Americans the "full occupancy of the city and the defenses of Manila and its suburbs, including responsibility for the lives and property of the inhabitants."

Aguinaldo, while protesting, deemed it more diplomatic to accede to Otis' representations. The Filipinos demanded, among other things, the occupation of the former Spanish blockhouses, in case Manila should revert to Spanish control as a result of the peace negotiations then underway. Also, these blockhouses provided the only shelter for the Filipino troops in those areas.

Otis affirmed that he could not legally and formally permit this. However, he was so impressed with the earnestness and honesty of purpose and convictions of Dr. T.H. Pardo de Tavera (Aguinaldo's emissary), that on October 27, 1898, Otis said that he would not raise any objection -- unless otherwise overruled by higher authority -- for the Filipino forces' continued occupancy of the blockhouses north of the Pasig River. These followed the city boundary of Manila from Tondo to San Juan bridge.

In addition, working arrangements were devised to prevent front-line friction between the Filipinos and the occupying Americans. Armed men were not allowed to cross each other's lines, and a buffer area was established between them. On the other hand, unarmed Filipinos (even in uniform), could enter and leave Manila as they pleased, while unarmed Americans were allowed in Filipino-held territory.

Notwithstanding, such working arrangements were not to last for too long.



Wounded U.S. soldiers at San Juan Bridge - Santa Mesa, Manila, 1899
Washington Volunteer Infantry en route to hospital during engagement.
Wisconsin Philippines Image Collection
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) Philippines Image Collection



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Source:

THE HILLS OF SAMPALOC
The Opening Actions of the Philippine-American War, February 4-5, 1899
Benito J. Legarda, Jr.
Published by Bookmark, Inc.




Related link:

Pvt. William Walter Grayson - U.S. Nebraska Volunteers - by Ka Tony





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posted by Señor Enrique at 1:09 PM | 7 comments


Saturday, August 23, 2008

THE YOUNG SCRIBE

At 15, he was hired by the Manila Times as a full-time cub reporter and assigned to cover the police and miscellaneous beats. He soon proved his salt by becoming the paper's leading scoopmaker.

At 17, he found himself in Korea as the paper's war correspondent. His remarkable dispatches from the battlefront were quite credible, coming as they did from the actual firing line assigned to the Filipino contingent. He was wounded and had to be sent back to Manila and assigned to the army beat. At 18, President Quirino awarded him with a Legion of Honor medal and a parade in his honor, attended by the Armed Forces Chief of Staff.

At 20, he once again found himself on foreign soil: as a Southeast Asian roving correspondent, interviewing state leaders as Chiang Kai-shek. He wrote prodigious political articles about China, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, and Burma.

At 21, he wrote a screenplay that was made into a movie, Korea (1952). It was nominated for that year’s FAMAS awards: Best Picture and Best Screenplay (for Ninoy).

At 22, he was tapped as President Magsaysay's political affairs officer and was provided living quarters in Malacañang. At 23, he earned another Legion of Honor medal for having negotiated the surrender of Luis Taruc, then Southeast Asia's No. 1 communist.

He ran for and became the youngest municipal mayor at age 23, although he was subsequently unseated by the Supreme Court for being underage. But at 27, he became the youngest vice governor, and at 29, the youngest governor.

in the interim, the 6,000-hectare sugar plantation that he managed raked in the biggest harvest after he had converted it into a mini-welfare state.

Pursuing a political career, at 35, he became the youngest senator. At 40, he became the leading oppositionist to the Marcos regime. When Martial Law was declared, he was incarcerated at Fort Bonifacio. At 41, he was charged with murder, subversion, and illegal possession of firearms. At 45, he was sentenced to death by firing squad. An international outcry stayed the executioner's hand. He appealed his conviction to the Supreme Court.

After seven years and seven months of languishing in prison, he suffered a heart attack and was allowed to leave with his family for the United States where he underwent a triple by-pass surgery. Afterwards, he was offered a fellowship at Harvard and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

At age 51, concerned about a communist takeover of the Philippines, he decided to return home to help Marcos find a peaceful solution. On August 21, 1983, as he alighted from his plane at Manila International Airport, he was assassinated before his feet could touch the ground of his beloved homeland.

It took his death to unite all the Filipino people who were hurt and hounded by Marcos for eleven years since the US-supported Martial Law was declared in 1972.


NINOY AQUINO
(Nov 27, 1932 - Aug 21, 1983)




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posted by Señor Enrique at 10:18 AM | 21 comments


Friday, August 22, 2008

AZCARRAGA, HEADING EAST TO LEGARDA


Azacarraga was renamed Recto
on February 17, 1961
under Ordinance No. 4377

Ordinance No. 4441 was amended by Ordinance No. 4377,
relative to the renaming of Azcarraga Street as Claro M. Recto Street,
by changing the classification of street to avenue on October 2, 1961.


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"Among the arguments put forward for renaming Azcarraga was that the street was named after a Spaniard. Actually, Azcarraga was the name of two brothers, Marcelo and Manuel, who were born of Spanish parents in the Philippines which, by definition, made them Filipino. Of the two brothers, Marcelo distinguished himself in Spain, rising to become minister of war and twice prime minister. Filipinos should be proud of Azcarraga because he was a native of the Philippines who held one of the highest offices in Spain."

Augusto de Viana - "Old Manila streets lose names to politicians"


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Originally named Paseo de Felipe, after Philip II of Spain, this street was divided into five portions with different names such as Paseo de Azcarraga by the bay, General Izquierdo, Paz, and at its Sampaloc end, Iris.

The Americans gave it a single name, Calle Azcarraga, in 1910, while in 1961, it was renamed to honor Senator Claro Mayo Recto.

Along its entire stretch, there's the Tutuban Railroad Station, Divisoria Market Complex, Tutuban Center Mall, Arranque Market, University of the East (UE), Odeon Theater (which is now a mini mall), Ever Gotesco and other cinema houses, jewelry merchants, schools, eateries and offices.

Andres Bonifacio was born on Nov. 30, 1863 in a small nipa hut in Tutuban, a swamp-like part in Tondo (which means a place where they make tuba, an alcoholic drink made from coconuts).

On July 7, 1892, Bonifacio met secretly with his friends in a house on Recto Street in Tondo. Together with his two friends Ladislao Diwa and Teodoro Plata, he formed the first triangle of a secret society called Kataastaasan Kagalanggalang na Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan, or Katipunan, for short.

In 1886, the Manila Railway Company pursued its plans to build a railroad line from Manila to Dagupan, Pangasinan. The Fleming Company was commissioned to help build the railroad. With the new railroad tracks cutting across Tondo, the Fleming Company had to buy several houses that were subsequently demolished to make way for the railroad. Among which was the Bonifacio house in Tutuban.

Another notable personality associated with Azcarraga is one of the Philippines' important artists, Fernando Amorsolo. Although he was born in Paco, Manila, and grew up in the carefree setting of the province, Amorsolo lived a simple life and raised his family in an apartment on Azcarraga.

During his early years as an artist, in his effort to put food on his family’s table, as well as earn enough money to afford the materials he needed to pursue his passion for painting, Amorsolo took on other jobs, including that as a commercial illustrator. As a commercial artist, his most popular creation was the Marca Demonio label, which is pasted on the bottles of Ginebra San Miguel gin to this day.

Had it not been for his wife’s constant prodding during the later part of his life to buy their own house and lot, he would have been contented enough to live the rest of his life in their rented apartment on Azcarraga.

Given the colorful and diverse history of this street, if changing its name from Azcarraga was of absolute necessity, they could have renamed it after Andres Bonifacio or Fernando Amorsolo; not after Claro M. Recto, a career politician, though gifted with a brilliant mind, was hindered with an appeal limited to the intellectual elite and the nationalist minority of his time.

As Manuel L. Quezon III once wrote:

"Recto's leadership was the curious kind that only finds fulfillment from being at the periphery of power, and not from being its fulcrum. It was the best occupation suited to the satirist that he was. His success at the polls would be limited, his ability to mold the minds of his contemporaries was only excelled by Rizal's...But he was admired for his intellect and his dogged determination to never let the opposition be bereft of a champion, still his opposition was flawed. For it was one that never bothered to transform itself into an opposition capable of taking power."


Odeon Terminal Mall, formerly the site of Odeon Theater




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SOURCE:

Where is Azcarraga now? - Manila Bulletin


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RELATED LINKS:

Nueva Street in Binondo

From Oriente to Ty Street

Formerly Isaac Peral

Hidalgo East of Quezon Boulevard

Hidalgo Street Revisited

On Palanca Street

General Carriedo and Fr. Felix Huertas

Manila's Plaza Goiti

Old Street Names of Manila - Traveler on Foot






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posted by Señor Enrique at 3:40 AM | 17 comments


Thursday, August 21, 2008

REMEMBERING THE VICTIMS OF MILITARY SEXUAL SLAVERY


My reaction to the photos of this memorial on fellow HCS member Jeffrey Yap's site was one of amusement. He termed it "an interesting 'irony' on Plaza Lawton." I didn't know anything about this memorial so I told Jeffrey that I would go there to take some pictures for my personal archive.

The initial reaction of amusement turned to dismay when I finally got there, for it was only then that I realized the inappropriate symbolism created for this memorial.

Tucked away in a corner of Plaza Lawton
facing the Manila Post Office, this memorial unveiled by then Manila Mayor Lito Atienza on April 22, 2003, was intended to preserve the memory of more than 1,000 women -- comfort women -- who were continually raped by the Japanese occupation forces during the Second World War.

However, the entire setting seems more of a tribute to Eros, as if to mask the painful truth behind the tragic event being memorialized: the violent and brutal experiences endured by the thousands of
our women, including prepubuscent girls and boys; none of it, I'm sure, was of a Memoirs of a Geisha-like episode for any of them.

To this day, there are thousands of living survivors who are still trying to demand an official apology from the Japanese government and full recompense for their pain and suffering.

Certainly the Atienza administration was fully cognizant of these wartime atrocities yet, I wonder why it didn't commission a more sensitive artist like Julie Lluch to create a solemn image for this memorial?


Hopefully, Mayor Lim, in conjunction with his Historical and Heritage Commission, will consider it worthwhile to address this impropriety.

As an aside, Plaza Lawton was recently rehabilitated with the design assistance of the Heritage Conservation Society. Removing as much of the existing concrete as possible, the plaza was restored as a grassy, green space with benches installed along the walkways. In addition, the refurbished Plaza Lawton now boasts of a fountain as its centerpiece, flanked by a colonnade of fully grown royal palm trees.





Related link:

When Tears Fall

Irony on Plaza Lawton - Jeffrey Yap




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posted by Señor Enrique at 9:09 AM | 13 comments


Wednesday, August 20, 2008

DRIVER'S LICENSE RENEWAL AT THE LOCAL LTO



Getting my license renewed a couple of weeks ago wasn't all that bad, except the photo printer at the LTO branch I went to was out of commission so, I had to return a week later to pick up my new license.

I went to the Manila North District Office of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) located at the old Automatic Telephone Exchange compound on Tayuman and Kusang Loob Streets in Manila, a block away from Bonifacio Elementary School on Ipil Street.

I could have gone to SM Manila wherein on its top floor is another LTO office that offers the same services, but I thought passing by the school where I spent six years of my young life would be a swell idea. It was. I had a good time reminiscing some of my elementary school years as I walked by slowly in front of the school.

Anyway, years ago, processing of driver's licenses used to take time because the applications filed in each of the LTO's district and regional branches had to be forwarded to the central office in Quezon City on East Avenue, before being sent back again to each specific LTO branch for applicants to pick up.

Another cause of delay back then was the packaging process itself which was made manually through laminated paper and cardboard, from which license cards were being made. These cards even posed problems as they were easy for the document wizards of Recto to create forged versions of.

According to a Manila Times article, the LTO now uses a card production system that enables any of its branch office to issue a driver's license promptly, at times within a 30-minute period or less. The technology was introduced by Mega Data Corporation and Amalgamated Motors of the Philippines Incorporated (AMPI) in 1992.

Besides being equipped with better security features, the system has also allowed the LTO to decentralize its driver's license processing operations; thus, one-stop license renewal kiosks have been established all over the country - such as in shopping malls and at various commercial centers -- making it very accessible to motorists to renew their licenses.

There are approximately 12 million driver's license holders in the country. Three million of which are renewed each year. And at an average renewal fee of P275, LTO certainly generates a substantial income for providing such services.



Drug test and medical examination establishments across from the LTO office on Tayuman Street





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Related links:

A Guide To Driver's License Renewal





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I very much appreciate my articles and photos appearing on fellow bloggers' sites, popular broadsheets, and local broadcast news segments, but I would appreciate even more a request for permission first.
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posted by Señor Enrique at 10:09 AM | 22 comments


Tuesday, August 19, 2008

ON RIDING JEEPNEYS AND HOLDUPS


These days, ever since the price of gas has skyrocketed, I have been riding the jeepneys more so than usual.

Commuting via public transportations certainly has its pros and cons. For one thing, it's cheaper to ride a jeepney than drive to downtown Manila. A whole day's parking fee alone can set me back a hundred pesos, though unarguably, it's more convenient and safer to drive my car than ride a jeepney full of strangers, especially after dark.

As in any large metropolis anywhere in the world, there is always the chance of getting mugged; therefore, I've prepared myself to give up whatever item is demanded from me.
I know that even a moment of hesitation may tick off a nervous thief. Making a habit of not carrying anything of great value whenever riding a jeepney or bus helps in this respect.

I've also psyched myself not to negotiate with a perpetrator should I find myself in a stickup situation aboard a jeepney. Chances are, he's strung out on shabu (methamphetamine) and that he's accompanied by one or two similarly drugged-out accomplices; not to mention that more than likely, they would also be armed with weapons that can inflict serious harm, or worse, end my life at an instant.

Nevertheless, for some people, especially the young ones, the shock of finding one's self in such volatile situation -- coupled with the disgust they suddenly feel for someone trying to rob them -- might impel them into a momentary lapse of reason; thus, we'd hear about young people getting seriously hurt, if not killed altogether, for resisting to give up their prized possessions.

About a year or so ago, a young UP coed was shot to death when she refused to give up her cell phone, while more recently, a 23-year-old graduate of the Ateneo de Manila -- Tara Santelice -- was shot in the head by a thief whom she wrestled with to keep her bag that contained a laptop. Both incidents took place aboard a public utility vehicle.

The following is a GMANews report by Johanna Camille Sisante about this tragic incident:

08/06/2008 | 08:56 AM MANILA, Philippines - A 23-year-old woman is now in critical condition after being shot in the head early Wednesday morning after she attempted to wrestle her laptop away from a thief in Cainta, Rizal. A report by radio dzBB’s Sam Nielsen said the unidentified thief used a .38 caliber pistol to shoot the victim identified by the Cainta police as Tara Santelices (not Dara Santeneces as earlier reported) of Brookside Subdivision in Cainta town. Santelices’ companion Joyce Mejias, who was riding the Marikina-bound jeepney with the victim at the time of the incident, said the suspect declared a holdup while the jeepney was moving along Felix Ave. in Cainta. But when the victim tried to wrestle back her bag containing a laptop, the assailant immediately shot her, took some of the passengers' bags and immediately fled the scene.

My heart goes out to Tara, as well as to her family and close friends. I wish her a speedy and full recovery.

You may read more about her story here.




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Related link:

JUSTICE FOR TARA SANTELICES: Better Crime Prevention






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I very much appreciate my articles and photos appearing on fellow bloggers' sites, popular broadsheets, and local broadcast news segments, but I would appreciate even more a request for permission first.
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posted by Señor Enrique at 10:01 AM | 26 comments


Monday, August 18, 2008

FROM ORIENTE TO TY STREET


The name of the street between the two buildings -- Metrobank and First Metro -- in the above photo may soon change from Oriente to Ty Street; that is, to honor the founder of Metrobank, George Ty, whose net worth amounts to nearly a billion US dollars, ranking him as among the 40 richest men in the Philippines, according to Forbes.

With all due respect to Mr. Ty's staggering success and wealth, perhaps, he should reconsider, and just leave the name of Oriente Street as it is, especially for its historical value.

Oriente Street was named after the first hotel built in the Philippines, Hotel de Oriente at Plaza de Calderon de la Barca in Binondo, which the Metrobank building now occupies.

The hotel was constructed in the 1850s as a two-story building; occupying the entire block from Oriente Street to Veronica Street. And across Oriente Street was where the old La Insular Cigarette and Cigar Factory once stood, which the First Metro building now occupies.

According to Ka Tony, Jose Rizal used to stay at Hotel de Oriente before he traveled to Europe and before he wrote "Noli Me Tangere. Furthermore, he added:

Rizal, looking out his hotel window, will have the view of the Plaza Calderon de la Barca, on his right is "calle Veronica" a corner block meeting "calle Anloague" (Juan Luna). The "bahay na bato" on this corner with a "tisa rojo" was the setting of Rizal's Noli. The back of this house is the "Estero de Reina" which Rizal mentioned on his Noli that "Kapitan Tiago" & his neighbors used the estero to wash their clothes, dishes, drink, bath, and etc.

On the other hand, according to the Filipinas Heritage Library, the La Insular Cigar and Cigarette Factory in Binondo was founded by Don Joaquin Santamarina with his associates, Don Luis Elizalde and Don Manuel Clemente. It was the first privately-owned cigar factory that was established after the government monopoly on tobacco was abolished in 1880. Its office and factory stood beautifully at Oriente Street in front of Plaza Calderon de la Barca.

Both Hotel de Oriente and La Insular were burned down during the Japanese Occupation.

Hence, for the sake of pride of place, perhaps, George Ty and his clan will abort their efforts to change the name of Oriente Street. And while we're at it, we might as well ask the Yuchengco clan to give back Yuchengco Street its old name -- Nueva.




Related link:

Old Manila streets lose names to politicians - Inquirer.net

Then & Now Pictures of Hotel de Oriente - Tanawin by BCS




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I very much appreciate my articles and photos appearing on fellow bloggers' sites, popular broadsheets, and local broadcast news segments, but I would appreciate even more a request for permission first.
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posted by Señor Enrique at 11:10 AM | 17 comments


Sunday, August 17, 2008

THE CHURCH AT THE PLAZA

















Related links:

Binondo Church - Wikipedia

Plaza Calderon de la Barca in Binondo

Ysla de Binondo and The Chinese Revolt

Roman Ongpin

Two Weddings and a Food Trip






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Please note:
I very much appreciate my articles and photos appearing on fellow bloggers' sites, popular broadsheets, and local broadcast news segments, but I would appreciate even more a request for permission first.
Thank you!



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posted by Señor Enrique at 8:45 AM | 20 comments


Life in Manila as observed by a former New Yorker who with a laptop and camera has reinvented himself as a storyteller. Winner of the PHILIPPINE BLOG AWARDS: Best Photo Blog in 2007 and three Best Single Post awards in 2008.

 
 

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