Lito's old Malate
Published Jul 16, 2026 12:04 am
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Updated Jul 15, 2026 05:12 pm
MEDIUM RARE
When a couple have been together for 60 years, it means they’re a diamond couple. And that’s Lito and Beng Atienza, a diamond couple with a very clear quartet of C’s: clarity, carat, color, cut.
Lito Atienza was mayor of Manila for three terms, 1998 to 2007, and as it happened, those were my Malate years. I lived there to be near my place of work, because going home to Quezon City five days a week was a hassle, even then. A long time ago that was, but memories are memories.
As I remember Mayor Lito then, he wore brightly printed shirts, called “Hawaiian” even if they had been bought, not in Hawaii but Las Vegas. In time they became more than a statement, they became his brand.
But there’s more to Lito than his shirts. As I remember his administration, the slogan was “Sanggol, ipagtanggol”: Save the babies. And save them he did. Abandoned the babies may have been, but Lito found — or he made — a home for them, beginning with the center or temporary shelter where they stayed until a family, or a couple, or a home could be found for them. I do not know how many babies he saved — he probably wouldn’t be keeping score, either — but heaven knows and the angels are grateful.
At the time, there was only Hospicio de San Jose near Malacañang Palace, where abandoned babies could be cared for by an order of nuns in their all-white habits. (Bon vivant Benjie Yap’s home for foundlings was to come later.)
Lito and Beng’s diamond anniversary last week released a flood of memories of Malate, which was then Manila’s most photogenic district. The buildings and residences here were nicer, prettier, according to the fashion designers who made Remedios Circle their home. My apartment was next-door to Myther Buñag’s tailoring shop. (I keep imagining that Dingdong Dantes’ TV series, “The Master Cutter,” was inspired by Myther, true-to-life master cutter of his time.)
For Larry Cruz, son of my dear editor-in-chief Emilio Aguilar “Abe” Cruz, the dream was to put up a cafe on every arc of the circle, beginning with his “1900.” Around the circle there was a lovely antiques shop; indeed it was a Malate of genteel charm.