431st anniversary of the Noble and Ever Loyal City

Today will mark the start of the commemoration of the City of Manila’s Foundation Day. If there is a person who has captured the spirit of Manila’s past, it is Nick Joaquin. His play Portrait of an Artist as Filipino is about the last celebration of Manila’s great feast in Intramuros – La Fiesta de La Naval. His story The Mass of St. Sylvester is about the old New Year celebration in old Manila and the destruction of the city during liberation. We hope to see the day when his play and story become an integral part of Araw ng Maynila.

This year’s Araw ng Maynila has a very special feature that will add a historical touch to the Philippines’ capital city. On June 23, a Galician cruceiro (wayside stone) will be installed beside the Bureau of Immigration building. The cruceiro is a symbol of Divine Protection and place of prayer for the thousands of pilgrims that annually went to the church that houses the remains of Santiago Apostol in Galicia, Spain. The cruceiro is a donation of Dr. Jose Rodriguez, president of the Centro Gallego de Filipinas.

It is difficult to believe that more than half a century after the end of World War II, Intramuros has still not been rebuilt. Manila, as we all know, was the second most destroyed city in World War II and the biggest loss was Intramuros, for that is where Manila truly begun. The only church that truly survived was San Agustin, which was fortunate because it was the oldest. But there has been no real effort to rebuild Intramuros. At best, they have restored the gates and the walls.

La Fiesta de La Naval is no longer celebrated in Intramuros. It is now commemorated in Quezon City. Manila has no plush residential district. Before the war, Malate was where Manila’s elite resided. Malate and Ermita are now where the disco bars are concentrated.

If Manila is going to be different from Makati and all other cities in the metropolis, it will have to be because of the role the city played in the country’s history from the coming of the Spaniards to liberation. Intramuros has to be developed and in a way that will throw a light on its past. Everyone is talking about developing tourism but very little has been done to attract tourists to Fort Santiago, where Rizal stayed up to his last days and where he composed his Ultimo Adios. People seem to be more concerned with the Bonifacio monument in Caloocan than with Rizal’s cell in Fort Santiago, Intramuros.

If we were to attract tourists, it is only logical that we begin by attracting them to Manila. And we have always maintained that the only way Manila can be a tourist place is by developing Intramuros into a tourist center. The way things are, Intramuros will probably remain undeveloped till the end of this millennium. A global city will rise in the old Fort Bonifacio, but Intramuros will stay as it is. How little regard we have for our great past.