LANDSCAPE As painful as the truth. Manila is right now losing yet another cultural heritage treasure. There are people, among them local government officials, determined to make our capital a maze of high rises with no distinguishing aesthetic features; they want Manila to look like New York, I was...
LANDSCAPE Tomorrow is the National Day of the Estados Unidos Mexicanos. In English, the United Mexican States. That is the country’s official name for it is a federation of 32 states. In the Philippine context, their states are like our provinces. Mexico’s Independence Day is unique, it...
LANDSCAPE When I turned five, my mother threw a party. It was a barrio fiesta in the heart of Pasay where we settled after World War II. She was a young widow (juggling two babies, she used to say) living in her father’s house and writing for a newspaper on Soler Street in downtown Manila. I am...
GEMMA CRUZ ARANETA LANDSCAPE “Enigmatic objects: Notes towards a history of the museum in the Philippines,” Dr. Resil Mojares’ monumental opus should not (and cannot) be read in one sitting. I am still very attentively mining its 500 pages, rereading chapters for nuggets of wisdom I may...
LANDSCAPE Dr. Resil Mojares’ latest book – Enigmatic Objects: Notes towards a History of the Museum in the Philippines – is a fountainhead of knowledge. I dare say, this historian par excellence truly deserves the National Artist Award for Literature. I have begun to read this 500-page...
LANDSCAPE Many years ago, I hosted “Krus na daan” (Crossroads), a daily radio program for DZRJ; Wednesdays were dedi-cated to Philippine history and Dr. Jaime Veneracion, an eminent Filipino historian from Bulacan was the regular guest. Every January, with the Sinulog Festival in mind, we...
LANDSCAPE She grew up in Argentina and has traveled extensively in Spain and Latin America where there are statues and images of the Blessed Mother, Jesus Christ and the saints, not only in churches and homes but also in secular spaces. No wonder Prof. Cristina H. Lee, Ph.D., had...
LANDSCAPE Instead of hauling in the wrecking ball to demolish the Aduana, a heritage custom house, the local government converted it into the National Museum of Cebu, disbursing close to ₱250 million for adaptive reuse. That was taxpayers money well spent on the 16th regional site of the National...
LANDSCAPE There were two SONAs (State of the Nation Address) which I was fortunate enough to witness in the flesh, in the august session hall of the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City. I was then the Secretary of the Department of Tourism, appointed by President Joseph E. Estrada. The SONA is a...
LANDSCAPE If the USA should “alienate sovereignty” it means that the USA is giving up territory incorporated in its body politic, like Puerto Rico, and at one time, the Philippines Islands. Just as the USA acquired and incorporated territory by treaty, purchase or conquest, it could very well...
LANDSCAPE We have been waffling on this question – should we prepare for war? I do not mean as a belligerent party because the 1987 Philippine Constitution renounces war as an instrument of national policy and adopts the generally accepted principles of international law as part of the law of the...
LANDSCAPE How unfortunate that Secretary Christina G. Frasco of the Department of Tourism (DOT) should suddenly be mired in the fiasco of “Love the Philippines,” the new branding titled “GINTO, Greater Innovation, New Tour-ism Opportunities” launched last June 27 to celebrate the golden...
