Sta. Mesa: Manila's Northeastern Edge

The Sta. Mesa market was the shopping place to go for PX goods in the ‘60s.

The border between Sta. Mesa, Manila and the city of San Juan, where SM Sta. Mesa now stands, is a unique place that stands at the cusp of historical eras and physical landmarks of the metropolis. It is a key section of Manila’s storied Sampaloc district and its stories are begging to be told.

Sampaloc gets its name from the tamarind trees that lined and shadowed its streets; at least back in the Spanish colonial era. Like the rest of Manila, the district of Sampaloc proffers two, or actually several, faces. On one side, it is teeming with shops, markets, the University Belt, and rows of rundown apartments, or accessorias. On the other end (where SM Sta. Mesa sits) it was a residential quarter that is evocative of a more quiet and refined past; and now, a promising urban future.

Manila’s third district enjoys a wide embrace, from the San Juan River and the stone bridge that Sta. Mesa crosses, to the Pasig river at Nagtahan, and on to the boundaries of the districts of San Miguel, Quiapo and Santa Cruz.

·         Magsaysay Avenue, as it looked in the ‘50s, had problems with jaywalkers.

Sampaloc was founded by Franciscan priests in 1613. Here, they built a church to Nuestra Señora de Loreto on what is now Bustillos Street. As they did, the new parish church set the point from which the township was going to radiate, as was typical in most towns.

But Sampaloc proved to be not quite so typical because, curiously, in 1783 the Franciscans ordered the relocation of another church, the Church of St. Anthony of Padua from its original location in Paco to a parcel of land just off Calle Bustillos. It faces off with the Church of Our Lady of Loreto, and now acts seemingly as a second parish church to the locale.

·         Sta. Mesa was the site of ‘50s suburban development because of its proximity to central Manila.

Up until the early American period, Sta. Mesa was just one of the barrios that comprised the Sampaloc district. In 1911, it achieved a status of being a separate religious district, and divided Sampaloc into two parishes. The newly created parish is now known as the Old Sta. Mesa, which extended from V. Mapa to Sta. Mesa Boulevard.

The neighborhood was composed of wealthy Spanish and Filipino families who built summer houses attracted to Sta.Mesa’s cool climate and the picturesque streets that were lined with ilang-ilang trees. So numerous were the trees that it was not for long until it became an industry — flowers were harvested, pressed and the oil were exported in great quantities to perfumeries in France.

In 1881, shortly after its relocation, the Manila Jockey Club once again opened its doors and resumed horse racing in the Sta. Mesa Hippodrome, in the street that now bears the same name. For four days during racing season, everything was at a standstill, and everyone in town, from the governor to the archbishop to the elite, the expats down to the market vendors attended these racing events.

Sta. Mesa is also known for a beautiful landmark, the Carriedo Waterworks Fountain; named after the Spanish philanthropist, Don Francisco Carriedo y Peredo, who made it his life mission to bring potable water to city of Manila. Up until 1878, Manila had no running water, and the population looked to the rivers and estuaries as the chief source of water.

·         The original Sta. Mesa market was originally planned with a skyscraper at the rear.

Donating P10,000, which even at the time was a sizeable amount, a municipal waterworks was established by Gov. Domingo Moriones. Upon completion, the water system was then able to deliver 16 million liters of water per day to 300,000 people. A fountain was built in honor of this event and the man that made it possible. It was located at the point where Sta. Mesa Boulevard, Aviles, Nagtahan and Legarda Streets converged.

In the 1970s, the fountain was transferred to Plaza Sta. Cruz where it remains to this day but not after a replica of the fountain was made by National Artist Napoleon Abueva and brought to the water treatment plant in Old Balara in Quezon City. Incidentally, Francisco Carriedo did not just bring us water, he also lent his name to the street in Manila where the original Shoemart was located.

In the 1950s, plans to revamp Sta. Mesa were under way, and the construction of the new Sta. Mesa market ensued. It was a big shopping complex, and was popular for the selling of PX goods. The shops were laid out in straight rows, with almost no end in sight. A tall building for offices was planned at the rear overlooking the San Juan bridge, but it was never constructed. The biggest attractions in the market were an indoor skating rink and hobby shops featuring slot cars and remote controlled miniature planes.

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The Carriedo fountain at the turn of the century was a prominent landmark north of Malacañang.

Today, Sta. Mesa has come a long way from being just a sleepy barrio. It has risen to become one of the busiest sections of the city …every bit as urban as the rest. It is now a confluence of modernity and history, high-rise buildings and a popular mall but still retaining the character of the old district and its small town heartland.

Banda Kawayan (Bamboo Band of the Phillipines)

Banda Kawayan Pilipinas (Bamboo Band Philippines) is a unique ensemble of young, talented performers utilizing musical instruments fashioned out of bamboo and other indigenous materials.

Founded by Prof. Siegfredo Baldemor Calabig (affectionately referred to as Ka Fred) comes from a musically inclined family based in the town of Paete in Laguna province, noted for its skilled craftsmen and artisans. In fact, the town’s name, Paete, was named after “paet”, the Filipino word for a carpenter’s chisel. He was hired as a music teacher at the high school department of the then Philippine College of Commerce (now the Polytechnic University of the Philippines) and was requested by the high school principal, Mrs. Gloria R.Talastas, to start an orchestra.

His initial idea of setting up a drum and bugle corps proved to be too expensive so the principal suggested that he form a bamboo orchestra instead. At first, Ka Fred was reluctant to accept the job since he had no background whatsoever with making instruments, much less with bamboo. However, he was eventually convinced to give it a try, given his background in music and carpentry.

The group traces its roots from a school-based group established in 1973 by then Philippine College of Commerce (PCC) Laboratory High School principal Gloria R. Talastas and faculty member Prof. Siegfredo B. Calabig. The PCC was eventually renamed Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP)

Banda Kawayan Pilipinas regularly performs in public and private functions and events all over the Philippines and overseas. It shares its wide array of repertoire with the general public, members of the diplomatic corps, tourists and balikbayans (overseas based Filipinos returning to their homeland). It also participates in various functions and events at the Malacañan Palace, as well as events organized by the Department of Tourism (DOT), the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB), the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), and the group’s other valued patrons and supporters.

INSTRUMENTS

Marimba – the marimba provides the melody. Made from bamboo and Philippine hardwood, it follows the musical scale and style of the typical xylophone and a marimba in an orchestra. Mallets made out of rattan and rubber are used to play the instrument. Similar to a piano, there’s a higher, middle and lower scale.

Angklung – is a traditional Asian instrument, variations of which can be found in countries like Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. The angklung provides counterpoints to the melody. Each angklung represents a note and is played by shaking the lower part with one hand while holding the upper end steady.

Bumbong – hollow pieces of bamboo put together and serve as the orchestra’s wind section – divided into “bass”(lower) and “horn” (higher) sections. The smaller the bamboo, the higher the note. Each piece of bamboo represents one note and is blown through a mouthpiece to produce the sound.

Pan Pipe – are small pieces of bamboo put together by a string and is similar in sound and stylings of the wind instruments found in Northern Philippines and in South America. Each piece of bamboo represents a note and is blown to produce the sound. The fan pipes provide counterpoints to the basic melody.

Kiskis – is a bamboo piece with ridges and serves as a percussion instrument. “Kiskis” is a Filipino word for “to scratch” or “to rub against something”. It is played by “rubbing” a rattan stick on its ridges.

Kalatok – is a percussion instrument, with pieces of bamboo with varying tones strung together. The instrument’s name was derived from the first two syllables of the conductor’s surname “Kala” and the “tok” sound that it produces when struck by a rubber mallet.

Kalagong - is a wind instrument which also provides bass and sometimes the melody for select musical pieces. Bamboo poles each representing a note are held together by a wooden frame and are played when two paddles made of rubber slippers are struck on each of the hollow bamboo tubes. The name of the instrument comes from the first two syllables of the conductor’s name “kala” and the “gong” for the gong-like sound that it produces when struck by the paddle.

From left to right: Kiskis, a rubber mallet, Kalatok and Kalagong.

Banda kawayan performances

Bacood Community

    Situated along the banks of the rivers Pasig and San Juan, quite removed from the busy and traffic-laden streets of Manila’s Santa Mesa district is a community (more like a subdistrict or a sitio of sorts) known as Bacood. Bacood’s name comes from the Tagalog word “bakood” which would mean either an elevated area or a cane plantation. It has been said that the area back then served as a plantation for various crops. But in the early days, Bacood was known as Cordeleria, a Spanish term for a shop that sells ropes. This was because the place back then was the center of rope-making and selling activity in Manila and in surrounding suburbs. One of those people who owned such a business was a Katipunero named Sancho Valenzuela, who would soon lead a failed assault against the Spaniards at the outbreak of the Philippine Revolution in 1896 and became one of the first martyrs of the Revolution. His memory now since invoked in the naming of the street that leads to Bacood.

Today, there are no traces left of the once-flourishing rope-making industry there, save for a street which is a Tagalog term which meant “a place for ropes:” Lubiran.

Lubiran St.

Bacood Park located along Valenzuela St. The park is located in an awkwarrd place as it looks an island surrounded by roads and seas of vehicles especially during rush hour.

Bacood boasts and rich and varied religious heritage. Apart from the Our Lady of Fatima parish which serves the predominantly Catholic population, a Philippine Independent Church parish (Good Shepherd Parish) and a Buddhist temple are also serving the area.

Bacood also serves as the home (the”Great Love Campus” as it’s called) of the Tzu Chi Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by a former Buddhist Monk in Taiwan. Interestingly, this structure used to be the old Manila Boystown and Girlstown complex, which has now moved to a larger facility in Marikina City.

Polytechnic University of the Philippines

Founded on October 19, 1904 as the Manila Business School under the Division of City Schools-Manila as the city's business school. It is also known as the "Poor man's University" where the economically challenged and other marginalized people study. It is notable for the lowest tuition fee charges in the Philippines at 12 pesos per academic unit, a rate that has remained unchanged since 1979.

1904
The organic act which established the Civil Government in the Philippines in 1901 made provision for the establishment of the Philippine School of Commerce. In response to the demand for training personnel for the government service and to the felt need to provide skills essential for private business employment, the Manila Business School (MBS) was founded on October 1904 as part of a City School system under the superintendence of G. A. O'Reilly. It offered the prescribed intermediate curriculum and such vocational-technical courses as typing, bookkeeping, stenography, and telegraphy.

1908

On account of the fact that the great majority of its students came from the province, the MBS was made into an Insular (or national) school and accordingly renamed Philippine School of Commerce (PSC). At first, the intermediate curriculum was prescribed in addition to subjects such as typewriting, bookkeeping, and stenography. Afterwards a four-year secondary course in commerce was offered in addition to the courses in Bookkeeping, Stenography, Typewriting and Telegraphy.

From 1904, the PSC has known several homes: an old Spanish building located at the foot of a small bridge at San Rafael Street, near the Mapa High School to an old house at the corner at Dulungbayan Street (now Rizal Avenue) and Dolores Street (now Bustos Street), Santa Cruz, Manila. Two years later, it was transferred to Gunao Street, corner Arlegui in Quiapo, in the building which now housed the Manila Blue Printing. At the end of another two years, it found itself in a building in General Solano Street, San Miguel, formerly occupied by the Bureau of Audits and the Philippine Senate where it had the consolation of staying for four years. A building behind the San Miguel Church was its next destination where it stayed for about twelve years. Then back to the Gen. Solano Building. In this last place, it remained for seven years up to 1933.

1933

The PSC was merged with the Philippine Normal School (PNS) and the Philippine School of Arts and Trades. During the merger, which lasted for 12 years, it operated under the supervision and administration of the PNS Superintendent. The PSC students who completed their respective courses were considered graduates of the PNS. The PSC replaced its secondary curriculum with a two-year junior college curriculum.

1947

Meanwhile, the PNS found it necessary to use the Normal Hall building as a dormitory. PSC, in turn, resigned to its lot of again working in humble crowded rooms. This drove school authorities to seek remedies for this unbearable situation. Representations were made to the Philippine Alien Property Administrator, through Malacañang and the Department of Foreign Affairs, for the acquisition of the Lepanto site.

Such representations were so intensified that on July 31, 1947 the two buildings in Lepanto (now S.H. Loyola) Street in Sampaloc, Manila were turned over to the Philippine Government for the exclusive use of the PSC. The School began to move and on August 4 the official transfer was effected.

1952

Through Republic Act (RA) 778 passed by both houses of Congress on May 20, 1952 and signed by then Philippine President Elpidio Quirino on June 21, 1952, the PSC was converted into the Philippine College of Commerce (PCC), with Luis F. Reyes as its first president. The PCC broadened its program offerings with the inclusion of undergraduate courses in commerce and related fields.

1978

Through Presidential Decree (PD) 1341, PCC was converted into a chartered state university and accordingly renamed Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP). This led to the broadening of course offerings and the restructure/streamlining of the University's administrative organization.

     

PUP CAMPUS AND PUP HYMN

Mabini Shrine

The Mabini Shrine is a historic site located in P.U.P, Santa Mesa, Manila. Its a replica of the original house owned by the Del Rosario family in Pandacan to whom Apolinario Mabini, known as the "Sublime Paralytic" and "The Brain of the Philippine Revolution".

The bamboo and nipa house was owned by Cecilio Del Rosario and Maxima Castaneda-Del Rosario. Apolinario Mabini first lived in the house in 1888, the year he entered law at the University of Santo Tomas. He continued to live there during the most of his adult years. The original house was used to be located across the river in Nagtahan, Pandacan

The marker in the antesala where Mabini died

Video tour of Mabini's Shrine