Beautiful Cebu

Cebu is not the same colonial province time has forgotten decades ago. It is not a periphery to the center but rather, a destination with its own unique charm. Discover for yourself. See new destinations in the Cebu mainland. Read on...

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

BRIEFLY | Americanizing the plaza dedicated to Miguel Lopez de Legaspi, great Spanish conquestador





















BEFORE AND AFTER.

The flowers disappeared from the landscaping, leaving just green, white and gray in the picture, colors reminiscent of a Mormon church grounds. The white-washed obelisk looks as American as Washington DC.

White is not a Spanish color. Yellow is. The renovation disregarded history and alienates. It is more attuned to the American constructed Customs building instead of the Fort which is its contemporary. The downtown is supposed to be more European and Latin in influence standing side by side a scattering of American colonial structures.

The American part of the city starts at Jones Avenue and goes all the way up to Fuente Osmena and the Capitol. The American-style landscaping of the Plaza Independencia is better suited if it were done to Fuente Osmena instead.

No comments:

PROFILE | Cebu City, Queen City of the South

Cebu's port is home to most of the Philippines' shipping companies. It's not surprising as Cebu City has been, historically, the center of commerce, education, entertainment and information of Southern Philippines. It is also the administrative, ecclesiastical and cultural capital of the region.

THE ISLAND | SanFran is Disaster Resilient : UN

In May 2011, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) recognized San Francisco's disaster preparedness and awarded it the Sasakawa Award for Disaster Reduction for its “indigenous solutions to disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation through its Purok system.”

ECONOMY | It's More Prosperous in the Philippines ... soon.

The Philippines and Peru will be among emerging economies that become much more prominent in the next few decades, helped by demographics and rising education standards, with the Philippines set to leapfrog 27 places to become the 16th largest economy by 2050, HSBC predicts.

POLITICS | Tomas as Jullus Caesar

For many people, Tomas and Joy Young's loss didn't add up. For them, last election's results were erratic, wild, inconsistent.

HISTORY | Demystifying Jose Rizal

The question is, could Rizal walk the talk? Even in his writing, he debated with himself between peaceful reform and bloody uprising. If Spain didn't throw him in prison and executed him, would he have become a hero?