Monthly Archives: September 2013

The Urban Legend That is the Manila Film Center (Pasay City)

Posted on by — 3 Comments ↓

I was slated to attend a press conference launching the 75th Oktoberfest at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila but, as it was still early, I decided to park my Toyota Revo at the nearby, Parthenon-like Manila Film Center at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) Complex.  Today, it is the venue, since November 2012 (and from December 10, 2001 until its lease expired in 2009), of  the Amazing Show, a Las Vegas-like song and dance extravaganza produced by Amazing Philippines Theater where all the performers are transgenders. A huge “Amazing Show” sign is now emblazoned on its facade.  It is popular with Korean tourists.

The former Manila Film Center

The huge lot in front of the center is all to familiar to me and my thesis mates (Cecilio “Ces” Carandang, Alfredo “Al” de Jesus, Clarencio “Shoti” Gonzales and Jane Dy) as it was our proposed site for U.P. College of Architecture thesis proposal – a National Museum Complex.  I have also been inside the center which, in its heyday, housed 6 360-degree theaters, 6 preview rooms for the Board of Censors, a film archive (to use the then little-known Digital Storage) and a number of offices.

Our proposed National Museum Complex site

Just last February 19, a 3-hour fire, which started past 7 PM, damaged the back of the theater but caused no casualties. Damage was placed at around PhP1.2 million.  This was not the center’s first brush with disaster as the center is more famous for the tragedy that happened during its construction, as well as its ghost stories, rather than for anything else.

The left side facade

The center had its beginnings in 1981 when then First Lady Imelda R. Marcos had the grandiose notion of turning Manila into the “Cannes of the Pacific” by starting the Manila International Film Festival (MIFF) which she slated to start on January 18, 1982. Her last major project at the CCP, Imelda passed over my late uncle and National Artist (for Architecture) Leandro V. Locson and, instead, chose Arch. Froilan Hong, also our professor in U.P., to do the design. Imelda wanted to recapture, through the Manila Film Center, the grandeur of Athen’s Parthenon through the application of modernist abstraction and vernacular intervention.  In fact, its design module was based on the Golden Section, a Classical proportional device.

The left side colonnade

The building’s foundation, supported on more than 900 piles reaching the bedrock about 120 ft. below, was set on newly reclaimed land near Manila Bay. Since the construction deadline was tight, 4,000 workers were employed to work, round the clock, in 3 shifts. About 1,000 workers finished the lobby in 72 hours, normally a job entailing 6 weeks of labor. Then, tragedy struck  on November 17, 1981, shortly before 3 AM, when scaffolding and wooden support for part of the second basement collapsed, causing at least 169 graveyard shift workers to fall and be buried or trapped under wet, quick-drying cement.

Front collonnade

Amid a blanket of security, rescuers were only allowed to go inside the accident site 9 hours after the collapse. One unanswered question is “In the rush to complete the project  in time for the MIFF, was fresh concrete poured over the dead workers and construction continued?”The Film Palace was indeed finished just 15 mins. before the opening amidst clouds of thick construction dust.  The unfinished roof was temporarily covered by hundreds of square meters of fabric. On opening night, the first film (out of 17) shown in the theater was the movie “Gandhi.” India’s entry, “36 Chowringhee Lane” would later claim “Best Picture” while Lyudmila Gurchenko won as “Best Actress,” Bruno Lawrence as “Best Actor” and Goran Markovic as “Best Director.”

The damaged pavement

The MIFF was to last another year but, instead of quality films, pornographic films were shown in an effort to gain a larger audience and, perhaps, to make up for the first festival’s financial losses. Later, in 1984, I would watch the premiere of Tikoy Aguiluz’ startling, controversial but highly-acclaimed first full-length film “Boatman” (Ang Bangkero), in its uncut version, at this very venue.  Peque Gallaga’s excellent and equally erotic thriller “Scorpio Nights” was also shown here. After the catastrophic, 7.7 magnitude July 16, 1990 earthquake that struck Manila and the rest of Luzon, the Film Center was abandoned due to it becoming unstable.

UniCellBio Clinic & Lab

Though now being reused (it also houses the UniCellBio Manila Clinic & Lab), the building still remains in a sorry state of disrepair, with broken glass panels and cracked, weed infested pavements, making the place incredibly spooky. In fact, there are stories of ghostly manifestations within the building that include apparitions; hearing of cries and moans; bleeding walls; and hands sticking out from under doors.  I would have liked to explore the condition of the building in more detail but it is now off limits to promenaders and joggers.  If only its 30-year old walls would talk, it would have a sinister and ghostly story to tell…..

Kalibo Town Proper (Aklan)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

It was time for Jandy and I to return to Manila and, as we still needed to buy some paint materials, I joined Grace, Marve, Cheska, John Paul and Kyle on their way to Kalibo where building materials were much cheaper than in Malay.  After that, we could all have dinner prior to them dropping us off at the airport.  The hardware was located at the center of town, across Pastrana Park.  While Marve was attending to the purchases, I took time off to explore the the huge central plaza where all major arterial streets in Kalibo intersect.

Kalibo town proper

Kalibo town proper

Around the park are the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, the Museo it Akean, a Jollibee branch; the Gil M. Mijares Bldg., the former old tribunal which now houses Kalibo Police Station, Municipal Library and the Kalibo Sto. Nino Ati-Atihan Foundation, Inc. (KASAFI).

Pastrana Park

Pastrana Park

Across the park is the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. The town’s parish was created on September 18, 1581 with Fr. Andres de Ibarra, O.S.A., as its first parish priest.  The church was first built in 1804 but, from 1947-48, a new, bigger and more sturdy church was built.  After an earthquake in 1991, the church was rebuilt from 1993-97 under the guidance of Kalibo Bishop Gabriel V. Reyes.

Cathedral of St. John the Baptist

Cathedral of St. John the Baptist

The cathedral's modern interior

The cathedral’s modern interior

Adjacent to the cathedral is the elegantly-designed Museo it Akean.  Also called the Aklan Museum, this private museum is housed in the century-old, Spanish-era Estuylahan it Hari (“School of the King”), established in 1882.  Before World War II, it was a movie theater showing silent films and later a building of the Kalibo Institute.  During the war, it was converted into a Japanese garrison.  After the war, it was turned into a trial court sala and a warehouse before it was recently renovated and converted into a museum in 1980.

Museo It Akean

Museo It Akean

The museum showcases the history and remains of the old civilization of Minuro it Akean as well as contemporary local art. On display are talibong swords; wood and metacraft; the memorabilia of Archbishop Gabriel M. Reyes, Jaime Cardinal Sin and Godofredo P. Ramos; pina textiles, paintings of Aklanon artists; jars; pottery; religious relics; furniture; crafts; tools and artifacts from the Spanish era, and literature of Aklan.

Museo it Akean: cor. S. Martelino and Archbishop G. Reyes Sts., Kalibo, Aklan.  Admission: PhP15. Open daily, 8 AM to 5 PM.

Malumpati Health Spring and Tourist Resort (Pandan)

Posted on by — 6 Comments ↓

The day after our arrival in Malay, I decided to do some sightseeing at the nearby province of Antique.  Joined by Jandy, with Marve at the wheel of our 2003 Mitsubishi Adventure and my nephew John Paul Sta. Maria as guide, we decided to visit Malumpati Health Spring and Tourist Resort (also called Malumpati Cold Spring) in Pandan.  The resort is located about 7 kms. from Pandan town proper.

The scenic Malumpati River

From Malay Poblacion, we traveled along the Malay-Buruanga Rd., passing by a number of road repairs along the way.  Upon reaching the main highway, we traveled some distance until we reached Brgy. Sto. Rosario where, at a junction, a road leads to Malumpati.  From here, the 3.5-km. distance to the resort was a mixture of dirt and concrete.

Road sign at the junction

The Malumpati Watershed and Forest, in Brgys. Sto. Rosario and Candari, is a part of the lowland elevation forest of the Northwest Panay Peninsula.  A declared municipal watershed and park, it has a lush green forest, limestone formations and is home to rare butterflies, the rare Visayan Writhed-billed Hornbill (Aceros waldeni, locally called dulungan) and the critically endangered Visayan Tarictic Hornbill (Penelopides Panini, locally called tirik).

At our rented picnic hut

The exceptionally scenic Malumpati River, emerging from a cave system, is the largest river on the Panay’s northwestern peninsula. Part of the Bugang River System, it is called Malumpati to differentiate it from the crystal-clear, blue waters of the 6 km. long Bugang (said be derived from a tree with the same name) River, adjudged as the cleanest inland body of water in the Western Visayas by the Gawad Pangulo ng Kapaligiran (GPK) in 1996, which is a long stretch of river from Brgys. Sto. Rosario, Guia and Zaldivar.  The word malumpati was derived from the Ati words malukso (meaning “to jump”) and talumpati (meaning “to announce”).

The concrete bridge across the river

Upon arrival at the resort, we paid the requisite admission and parking fees and took a picnic shed. The resort has a man-made pool created by a concrete dam which keeps the blue-green waters at a certain level but also allows it to overflow during heavy rains.  The headwater is a 35-min. walk from the resort.  Normally packed with picnickers during weekends and the summer season, the resort was thankfully and blissfully deserted saved for a few picnickers who left soon after we arrived.

At the cordoned off diving platform

The resort has a  sari-sari store where we bought some snacks and, just outside the entrance, an eatery, accessed by a short flight of stairs, where we ordered food to be cooked for our lunch (pansit canton, grilled pork belly and steamed rice).  While waiting for it to be cooked, we rented a salbabida (rubber tube), for PhP20, and went down into the river to sample its bracingly cold waters which is said to be healthy to drink.

The moored bamboo platform

A concrete bridge, spanning the river’s width, allowed us to cross over to the other bank where we got a cottage for our stuff.  Beyond the bridge is the pumping station for the Pandan Water District.

The pumping station of Pandan Water District

Directly over the river’s deepest part (said to be 20 m.), on the opposite bank, is a diving platform which, however, was cordoned off. John Paul, instead, made his high dive from the bridge.  Stunted trees, whose gnarled roots extend right up to the riverbank, also make ideal diving platforms. Moored along the bank of the river, directly under the bridge, was a bamboo platform.

The new comfort room facility

A seemingly new addition is a tourist class comfort room facility which was inaugurated last October 3, 2012 and said to have cost PhP1.2 million.

The concrete dam

The Malumpati River offers a fairly long 6-km. stretch of still water (requiring some paddling) and a few mild (grade 2 with a few grade 3 spots) in high water, rapids ideal for novice kayakers. The river’s run begins at the resort where one can kayak out, in a grade 2 kayak, to rapids on the way down to the spring water pool.  Pull-out is 5 kms. from the start.

John Paul diving off the bridge

For those who prefer a less strenuous and more leisurely ride, the resort is also the starting point for an exciting, hour-long river rafting tour where one can appreciate the diverse flora and fauna along the way.

Jandy, Marve and John Paul share a salbabida

Malumpati Health Spring and Tourist Resort: Sitio Malumpati, Brgy. Guia, Pandan, Antique. Admission: PhP10/pax. Parking Fee: PhP35. Picnic Hut Rental: PhP25.  The resort is a 15-min. tricycle ride from Pandan town proper.