Video | Manila : Queen of the Pacific

Video credit: The Travel Film Archive

My late father always talked about his Escolta walks.  As a kid who grew in the province, I never had an inkling of how Manila looked like.  I only knew about it from my father's pictures, and later on when I had the chance to tag along with my parents.  He endlessly talked about how beautiful Escolta and Avenida Rizal was.

We know that Escolta was the center of business and trade, much like Ayala Avenue and the Entire Ayala Center, then we had Cubao, Greenhills, and now, we have Libis, Rockwell, and the latest to grow are Fort Bonifacio and Madrigal Business Center in Alabang.  Avenida Rizal, then, was the center for the culture and the arts, where movies were shown and stage plays were held--like London's West End or New York's Broadway.

Having the chance to work in Intramuros in the early 90s made me appreciate the ruins and architecture of Old Manila, and of course, Escolta and Avenida Rizal.  Intramuros, for its being a tourism destination is being preserved and reconstructed to its old glory. Escolta, since early 90s has not changed much.  Perhaps, there are only more traffic and people now.  Needless to say, Avenida Rizal is in shambles. This dingy and grimy place is now home to rotting buildings, peddlers, crooks, street people, and heavy traffic. It is ironic that this strip where Manila culturati has taken its roots, has become a place for lewd movies and sexy stage performances, and worst, a place for prostitution.
Under Mayor Lito Atienza, Avenida Rizal, which was even named after the country's national hero, was given a much-needed facelift.  It was cleared from traffic and was converted into a street mall.  Now, under the leadership of Mayor Lim, the place has gone back to its sham image.

In my photowalks to these places, it is just sad to witness Filipinos' lack of appreciation for history, culture and tradition--which must translate into preservation or restoration of historical places and architecture.  I could only marvel at the thought that Manila was once a pride in Southeast Asia or even the Pacific.

Well, it is not too late to bring back the lost glory of Manila. There are still buildings that can be salvaged from rotting and total destruction.  We only need to clean up these places and at least repaint their facades, and once and for all, get rid of those hanging cables and wires!  Bury them under!   In fact the El Hogar building in Binondo area is now undergoing a major renovation and restoration to be a future site for business and trade. I just hope the National Historical Institute and Manila's planner's would be more gungho about this. 

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A people's victory

I have been wanting to create a video of my photo documentaries. Last Friday night, I tried to learn more about Olympus Studio 2 software which came as a bundle with my camera, which I haven't used for so long. I was more bent on using Adobe Photoshop CS3 for photo editing.

I came to realize I could actually do time lapse tethered shooting with Olympus Studio 2 and make it into a movie. I tried it for 50 photos inside the house under poor lighting conditions, and I was so excited with the result even with poor quality photos, that I might do a time lapse photography one of these days, if time permits. So, I tried to make the time lapse photos into a movie with Windows Movie Maker but I could not figure out how to set the intervals into 1/16 second or less. So I tried it with Picasa 3, which is a freeware in Google, and it has a function for time lapse.

Back to this video, I wanted to share the inauguration photos without me worrying of my photos landing in the hands of crooks,and of course to share the photos in a way it can be more appreciated. So here it is, trying hard in weaving a story out of the photos, editing and musical scoring.

Needless to say, I am a frustrated film director.

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2010 Earth Hour Pilipinas and Photo/Video Contest

LAST YEAR, my kids and their cousins participated in observing Earth Hour. This year, my family will be participating again!

This year Earth Hour Philippines aims for the participation of over 15 Million Filipinos in over 1000 towns and cities nationwide. Globally, 807 cities, towns and cities in 82 countries across every continent have already signed up. (Source: Earth Hour Pilipinas. )

This year, the Philippines must take Earth Hour seriously, now that we are ravaged by El Niño phenomenon.

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My Tribute to the Philippines' democracy icon

August 1, 2009. Much has been written about the life of former president Corazon C. Aquino. Much has also been said about her death. Her passing away has definitely brought the nation again to unite, pray, and still hold that torch for democracy in the Philippines that she has helped to restore.

I remember her when I was a junior high school back home in Nueva Ecija during her campaign sortie in her bid for presidency. She was very unassuming but she was an embodiment of national strength and hope and sincerity, which, I think, were the reasons that catapulted her to power. I regret that I had no time to meet her personally when I worked for her successor, President Fidel V. Ramos, for she chose to be a private citizen after her term.

There would be no enough words to pay tribute to the great president. But this is my pitch--she made Presidency a symbol of trust, confidence and decency, that no other successor has ever done.

In this light, I just want to share two videos that will remind us of her presidency.

Cory Aquino sworn into office as the 11th president of the Republic of the Philippines. (The video, unfortunately, cannot be embedded, thus the link).

And the EDSA People Power theme song that reverberated in the airwaves back in 1986.



May President Cory rest in eternal peace.

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