Article - Manila: The City that Might Have Been

[overdrayv]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MY4YWDG_NUg"]Old Manila[/ame]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvpbsyNcI3I"]Manila, Queen of the Pacific 1938[/ame]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOI6rc38Qic"]Manila - Castillian Memoirs 1930s[/ame]

[froshie1]

Honestly, ang pinaggagawa ng MMDA ngayon ay mina-masaker ang buong Metro Manila.

Mga nagsusulputang busbays sa gitna ng EDSA, elevated U-turn slot with no banking angle, nagkalat na tarpulin ng mukha ni Hero, pedestrian overpass na walang aesthetic design (may warning pa na "yumuko ng kaunti, baka mauntog"), tree-balling, Fink fences, and many more.

Pinaiiral nga ang political will, wala naman sa lugar.

well in the first place we have a jologs culture when it comes to traffic laws. so ayun bagay talaga sa atin iyon.

[LexTer]

Sobrang panghihinayang ko nuon sa Maynila at buong Metro Manila e napagawa ako video.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmzTFD_z_r4"]YouTube - Maynila Nuon[/ame]

[gongrhey]

Nice find. Napamangha ako ang ganda pala ng Metro Manila noon. Walang sinabi yung mga other current Asian cities kung ikukumpara. Yung kuha ng mga hilera ng building sa gilid ng Pasig River, parang yung The Bund sa Shanghai. Yung Coastal Road ang ganda at ang linis, meron din ginawang ganyan sa Korea from Seoul to Incheon Airport. Ang ganda at ang linis pa ng Ayala Avenue noon. Nakakapanghinayang kung bakit napabayaan, kulang talaga sa urban planning.

[chua_riwap]

Escolta 1920s


Escolta 2005

Check that "pink building" na nasa lower photo? Tagal na pala yan. Ano bldg. yan?

[roninblade]

di naman isang sector ang may kasalanan kung bakit naging ganyan ang manila. lahat meron contribution on how it turned out. corruption, thoughtlesness, apathy, lack of foresight, and our general "bahala na" attitude made this possible.

you reap what you sow di ba?

looking at the pictures, parang gusto ko tuloy mag-time travel to visit a cleaner manila.

[speed unlimited]

Maari na rin nating masabi na dahil sa sobrang karunungan ngayon ng tao na binago lahat ng kalikasan . Tinambakan ang dagat sa Roxas Boulevard para tayuan ng malalaking building kanya sanhi ng pagbaha sa Metro MAnila at iba pang lugar sa Pilipinas.

[alwayz_yummy]

yabang kasi ng mga pinoy,e ayaw pasakop sa mga kano, pinalayas pa..pero ANG TYAGANG pumipila sa US-embassy para mag-ka-visa!

malabo na mabago pa pilipinas.....much worse pa nangyari sa atin, simula nung 1986 edsa revolt...

[Benji_DCP]

Ordinary folks look decent and formal back then... Ngayon, ang itsura na ng mga tao ay nakadismaya, mga squatters, istambay na walang damit, nagkalat na pedicabs, kariton, mga pulubi... Parang wala nang pag asa makabangon. Ok na nga rin sana na naging 51st State tayo, baka makakabawi pa ang lahing Pilipino sa mga Kano, at magkaroon sila ng brown president.

[CVT]

The government should capitalize on the flooding- a great equalizer, to rehash Metro Manila... We should not miss this big opportunity.

8800:juggle:

[XTO]

Kaya Acts of God na remedyo dito....Matira matibay, kumapit ang ayaw matangay.

[ghosthunter]

Check that "pink building" na nasa lower photo? Tagal na pala yan. Ano bldg. yan?

REGINA building

[ghosthunter]

View of the suspension bridge in the city of Manila. Álbum fotográfico... Late 19th century. BN The suspension bridge was constructed by private enterprise which operated it on a toll basis. The project was drawn up by the French engineer M. Gabaud.

[ghosthunter]

[SIZE="5"]Ayuntamiento de Manila[/SIZE]
taken from: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showth...26711&page=153



The Ayuntamiento Building sometime in the early 1900s, all festooned with the Stars and Stripes possibly for the 4th of July celebrations. the building was the headquarters of the Civil Government at the time.



Photo of the Ayuntamiento without the American decorations.



Photo of the First Philippine Assembly meeting inside the Ayuntamiento.



The ruins of the Ayuntamiento, 2005. it was completely destroyed during World War II. It is now just a shell, and being used as a parking lot. the Ayuntamiento is located next to Manila Cathedral in Intramuros. There are plans of having the Ayuntamiento rebuilt but that has not yet materialized.

[ghosthunter]

A photo of the pre-war Jones Bridge. you can clearly see the Post Office Building on the left hand side and the Manila Metropolitan Theatre almost near the Post Office Building. Vehicular traffic then was right hand drive (similar to Japan, Hong Kong, Australia and Britain) and the remains of the Puente de España.

[ghosthunter]

[SIZE="5"]Roxas Boulevard and Luneta[/SIZE]

1910



2005

[ghosthunter]

[SIZE="4"]Santos Building in Plaza Goiti (now Plaza Lacson), Santa Cruz, Manila[/SIZE]

1945



2005

[ghosthunter]

[SIZE="5"]Luneta Hotel[/SIZE]


1900



2005

[ghosthunter]

The electric tramway system opened on April 10, 1905, and by the 1920s had 17 routes, 33 miles of track and 110 cars. Thirteen cars served a separate 12-mile interurban line to Pasig. Service ended in 1944 during the Japanese occupation.

[artpogi]

I was a 70's kid, although hindi naman ganyan kaganda or kalinis ang manila noon 70's, I can say that during the 70's, somehow you can still feel Manila's old charm and it's not as chaotic as it is now. Maybe because population was lesser then.

Aside from the usual suspects of corruption and general public discipline, it is obvious now that back then, urban development is probably something the government don't know about, or don't care about.

I am lucky to be able to experience a small part of old Manila and hopefully we can someday find the right person who will bring back Manila's charm, or whatever that's left of it, for the sake of our children.