Plaza De Roma is the park fronting the Manila Cathedral shown in the Google Earth image taken probably circa 2006 below:
I passed by the square a week ago and took a photo of its marker which reads:
PLAZA DE ROMA. Formerly called Plaza Mayor. Converted into a park in 1797. Renamed Plaza McKinley after U.S. President William McKinley in 1901. Renamed Plaza de Roma in 1961 to honor Sacred College of Cardinals in Rome following elevevation of first Filipino cardinals, Rufino J. Santos. Bronze monument to Carlos IV of Spain erected in 1824 as a tribute for the for the introduction of the smallpox vaccine in the Philippines. Fountain built in 1886. Statue replaced by Gomburza monument in the 1960s . Statue returned in 1981.
Note the repetition of the phrase "for the" and smudged portion in the marker which is a shame. The National Historical Institute which usually erects such historical markers should upgrade this one. This simple error in a marker engraving makes me stop wondering why we Pinoys are generally perceived as a people with short-term memory disorder when it comes to our history.
Well, the trees are gone now ("slaughtered") as shown in the photo below of the Plaza and Manila Cathedral's facade I took last week. Thanks to some alleged miscommunication between the Intramuros Administration ("the order to cut the trees did not come from the Intramuros Administrator") and an inexperienced and unknowing project contractor who "went over and above the plan". (Related news articles here and here.)
How can we expect a people who generally do not have a sense of their own history to at least give importance to their own environment?
3 comments:
It is sad, but the public education system of the country leaves much to be desired, our zealous techers underpaid and with so few classrooms for too many students...
That's a shame; how could they be so amateurish?
i worked as an NGO employee last year and had an office in intramuros. although tourists view intramuros as a place rich with the history of manila, i was saddened to see various places inside intramuros inhabited by homeless people and scavengers. its a pity that beyond the walls of the city, the city government has not prioritized the maintenance of this place.
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