46. CULTURAL STATISTICS, CREATIVE ECONOMY & RIZAL PARK

CULTURAL STATISTICS, CREATIVE ECONOMY & RIZAL PARK

Dr. Troy Alexander G. Miano

03 October 2017

Resting in my hotel room at the Waterfront Manila Pavilion in Ermita, Manila, I have a clear aerial view of the Rizal Park which was our family’s regular weekend getaway three decades ago. I am back in Manila to grace the Conference on Cultural Statistics and Creative Economy conducted by the National Commission for the Culture and the Arts (NCCA). On day 1, yesterday, the UNESCO Cultural Statistics Framework 2009 was discussed followed by the launching of the Philippine Cultural Statistics Primer and Presentation of its Highlights. Other topics include: Heritage Valuation; Festival Statistics: Key Concepts and Current Practices; Statistical Data on Sinulog Festival that Account for its Achievements; Utilizing Statistical Data to Estimate the Economic Effects of a NCCA Festival in Puerto Princesa City; and Culture and Creativity in Education. Today, the following topics were presented: Mapping the Creative Industries: Towards an Evidence Based Policy; Creative Industries in the Philippines: Perspective from the Government; Creative Industries in the Philippines: Perspective from the Private Sector; Creative City Cebu: Challenges, Community and Commitment; Creative City: Baguio City; Craft and Sustainable Development; and Overview of Intellectual Property System of the Philippines.

I saw the gigantic statue of Lapu Lapu standing tall outside the window pane. The monument formally known as Statue of the Sentinel of Freedom was a gift from the people of Korea as appreciation and to honor the memory of freedom-loving Filipinos who helped during the Korean War from June 25, 1950 to July 27, 1953.

Wikipedia describes Rizal Park as a historical urban park located along Roxas Boulevard in the capital-city of Manila, adjacent to the old walled city of Intramuros. It is one of the largest urban parks in Asia. Situated by the Manila Bay and also known as Luneta, it is an important site in Philippine history where the GOMBURZA were beheaded in 1872, Jose Rizal martyred in 1896, inauguration of the Third Philippine Republic in 1946, and many other events that changed our country’s history.

Nick Joaquin’s Manila My Manila, reveals that Rizal Park's history began in 1820 when the Paseo de Luneta was completed just south of the walls of Manila on a marshy patch of land next to the beach during the Spanish rule. Prior to the park, the marshy land was the location of a small town called Nuevo Barrio (New Town or Bagumbayan in Tagalog language) that dates back to 1601. The town and its church, being close to the walled city, were strategically used as cover by the British during their attack. The Spanish authorities anticipated the danger posed by the settlements that immediately surrounded Intramuros in terms of external attacks, however, Church officials advocated for these villages to remain. Because of the part they played during the British Invasion, they were cleared after the short rule of the British from 1762 to 1764. The church of Bagumbayan originally enshrined the Black Nazarene. Because of the order to destroy the village and its church, the image was transferred first to San Nicolas de Tolentino then to Quiapo Church. After the clearing of the Bagumbayan settlement, the area later became known as Bagumbayan Field where the Cuartel la Luneta (Luneta Barracks), a Spanish Military Hospital (which was destroyed by one of the earthquakes of Manila), and a moat-surrounded outwork of the walled city of Manila, known as the Luneta (lunette) because of its crescent shape.

West of Bagumbayan Field was the Paseo de la Luneta (Plaza of the Lunette) named after the fortification, not because of the shape of the plaza which was a long 100-by-300-metre (330 ft × 980 ft) rectangle ended by two semicircles. It was also named Paseo de Alfonso XII (Plaza of Alfonso XII), after King Alfonso XII of Spain during his reign from 1874 to 1885. Paseo de la Luneta was the center of social activity for the people of Manila in the early evening hours. This plaza was arranged with paths and lawns and surrounded by a wide driveway called "La Calzada" (The Road) where carriages circulate.

In 1902, William Taft commissioned Daniel Burnham, architect and city planner, to do the city plan of Manila. Government buildings will have Neo-classical edifices with Greco-Roman columns. Burnham chose Luneta as the location of the new government center. A large Capitol building, which was envisioned to be the Philippine version of the Washington Capitol, was to become its core. It was to be surrounded by other government buildings, but only two of those buildings were built around Agrifina Circle, facing each other. They are the Department of Agriculture (now the National Museum of Anthropology) and the Department of Finance (now the Department of Tourism and soon to be the National Museum of Natural History). These two buildings were completed before the Second World War.

In August 1954, President Ramon Magsaysay created the Jose Rizal National Centennial Commission to organize and manage the celebrations for the centennial of José Rizal’s birth. Its plans include building a grand monument of José Rizal and the Rizal Memorial Cultural Center that would contain a national theater, a national museum, and a national library at the Luneta. The site was declared a national park on December 19, 1955 by virtue of Proclamation No. 234 signed by President Magsaysay. The Luneta National Park spans an area of approximately 16.24 hectares (40.1 acres) covering the area surrounding the Rizal Monument. The Commission of Parks and Wildlife (now Biodiversity Management Bureau) managed the site upon its establishment as a protected area. In 1957, President Carlos P. Garcia issued Proclamation No. 470 transferring the administration of the national park to the Jose Rizal National Centennial Commission. In 1961, in commemoration of Rizal's birth centennial, the National Library was inaugurated at the park. Its management was then handed over to the National Parks Development Committee, an attached agency of the Department of Tourism, created in 1963 by President Diosdado Macapagal. In 1967, the Luneta National Park was renamed to Rizal Park with the signing of Proclamation No. 299 by President Ferdinand Marcos.

Rizal Park has been a favorite leisure spot. Frequented on Sundays and national holidays, it is one of the major tourist attractions of Manila. Staring at Lapu Lapu’s attire brought me back to the open forum reaction of one of the participant right after the topic “Craft and Sustainable Development” was discussed. A resident of the Cordillera and in traditional attire, she protested the use of native dress by lowlanders stating that it degraded customs and traditions since every textile has symbolism, value and purpose. One stated that non-Cordillerans use their cloth as table-runners when in fact it is the dress of noblemen in the highlands.