Editorial

Metro’s sidewalks threatened assets

Metropolitan Manila’s sidewalks are fast disappearing and may be lost forever to commerce and development, a New York-based environmental group warned yesterday.

The group, Sidewalks Without Borders, announced that Metro Manila sidewalks are vanishing at a rate of 10 percent a year and by 2050 may be completely taken over by private cars, public vehicles, squatters, business establishments and street vendors.

The wake-up call followed that of another think tank, the Global Heritage Fund, which warned that Asia’s architectural treasures, including Fort Santiago in Manila and Ayuthaya in Thailand, are vanishing under a tide of economic expansion, war and tourism.

Sidewalks Without Borders, which has adopted “The Sidewalks of New York” for its theme, describes pavements as essential to urban life, public safety and community peace.

Under past city administrations, the national capital region’s sidewalks in the 17 cities and towns have suffered growing occupation from car owners, public transport drivers, street hawkers and a wide assortment of businesses.

Business owners have roped off entire sections and long stretches for the use of customers and establishment employees.

Tourists and delegates to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) conference have observed that much of the commuting public were forced off the sidewalks into the streets already choked with speeding cars, cabs, trucks and motorbikes.

“Manila’s sidewalks, in particular, are historic because they are at least 167 years old,” said the environmental group spokesman.

In a statement, he recalled that Spanish Governor General Narciso Claveria ordered the laying out of the first sidewalks in Manila on Oct. 25, 1845

In one historic stroke, a Spanish administrator improved the quality of civic life and introduced urbanity in the 7,000 islands, the statement continued.

Filipinos have honored Claveria by naming a street in Binondo after him. Claveria also issued the catalogo from which Filipinos got their surnames.

A nongovernment organization (NGO) formed to save Metro Manila’s sidewalks welcomed the statement and vowed to continue its drive for recognition as a partylist group by the Commision on Elections on behalf of marginalized citizens threatened by the sidewalks’ extinction.

“We call on President Aquino to help us return the sidewalks to the masses,” the group chairman said.

When asked to comment on Manila’s vanishing sidewalks, former President Joseph Estrada, who is running for city hall next year, said:

“I will make sidewalk rehabilitation a central theme of my campaign. Maneliños need the sidewalks for public safety and keeping the community together. Besides, where will the children play, the housewives huddle and the men have their occasional beer?”

A quiz for ‘Manileño’ Erap

Mark May 12 on your calendar because, according to ex-President Erap Estrada, that will be the day when he will formally announce his candidacy for mayor in the city of Manila.

A San Juan resident, mayor and taxpayer for decades, Estrada will have to establish residence in Manila for at least a year before the May 2013 city elections. He will challenge Mayor Alfredo Lim who has every right to look down on the interloper as a carpetbagger.

It would be easy for Erap to look for a suitable home in Manila.What interests Manileños is whether Estrada would live in a detached house or condo unit, whether he will park his car on Retiro St.or Roxas Blvd.

Will he pay his taxes in Manila and reapply for a new senior citizen ID card at City Hall?

Some “orig” Manileños are suggesting that “Asiong Salonga” take a simple quiz to prove his interest in Manila, demonstrate his knowledge of the capital’s past and to establish his bona fide as a son of the city.

We passed on the challenge to The Times’ resident historian and he obliged by creating a short quiz for the man who seeks to govern Manila for at least three years starting 2013.

The quiz:

1. On what day does Manila toast its founding day? A. June 24; b. Feb. 28; c. April 1; d. Nov. 30.

2. The first elective mayor of Manila was a. Manuel de la Fuente; b. Arsenio H. Lacson; c. Antonio Villegas; d. Mel Lopez.

3. Claro M. Recto St. was originally named a. George Dewey; b. Douglas McArthur; c. Lakandula; d; Azcarraga.

4. The longest railway line in Philippine history started its travel from Tutuban, Manila to Dagupan, Pangasinan, on a.Nov. 24, 1892; b. Nov. 24, 1922; c. Nov. 24 1932; d. Nov. 24, 1942.

5. Which of the following are found in the city of Manila? A. House of Representatives; b. Senate of the Philippines; c. Supreme Court; d. Malacañang Palace.

6. The popular come-on OPM for tourists and natives, “Manila, Manila,” was composed by a. Dennis (Hotdog) Garcia; b. George Canseco; c. Ryan Cayabyab; d. Ogie Alcasid.

7. The historic Post Office Building, which will be demolished and converted to a hotel or shopping mall, is located at a. Plaza Miranda; b. Plaza Sta. Cruz; c.Plaza Goiti; d. Plaza Bonifacio.

8. The extensive Manila rail line that traveled on the city’s major streets until the 1940s was called a. Tranvia; b. LRT; c. Supersubway; d. MRT.

9. The upscale downtown street up to the Sixties where Manileños loved to visit and to be seen in was a. Escolta; b. Avenida Rizal; c. Carriedo; d. UN Avenue.

10. The classic quotation, “The law is for all, otherwise none at all,” is attributed to a. Mayor Alfredo Lim; b. Justice Secretary Leila de Lima; c. Chief Justice Renato Corona; d. Mayor Ramon Bagatsing.

The answers:

(a); 2. (b); 3. (d); 4 (a); 5. (c and d); 6. (a); 7. (d); 8. (a); 9. (a); 10.(a).