This weekend gave Filipino heritage lovers and alike a blast from
the past as the once posh street of Manila has been revived for The Manila Street Heritage Festival. Dubbed as #SelfiEscolta event, it was organized by a group of heritage enthusiasts with a theme
called "Rescue, Revive and Relive Escolta".
Escolta is Manila's luxury and fashion
district in the olden days. You may compare it to what is Greenbelt, Makati or BGC, Taguig today but with the sense of neo-classical designs and art deco
architecture of the collections of buildings that managed to withstand the test
of time. Although some of these buildings are being touted for demolition like
the El Hogar Building. Some still serves purpose for banks and other local
businesses.
It is sad to think that these great
architecture wonders have been neglected for the past decades but still many
heritage building enthusiasts fight for the revival of this historical street.
I have a love for heritage and old buildings and I deeply recognize the
contribution of the past to what our society can learn today and have it as our
guidance for the future. Many today neglect such heritage sites for the love of
new things yet they forgot to even look back on our past and what brought us
here. Escolta and its surrounding areas were a symbol of our great past that has
been neglected by the majority.
If only the most of us have shown our
love for our own, these places would have been better preserved and comparable
to many historic destinations in the world. The old buildings in Escolta, Binondo, Quiapo,
Arroceros, Ermita and Intramuros are symbols of our great past. Let us not
forget that we were once the major destination in Asia. Our neighbouring
countries looked up to us. If only we took care of our past, we would not be
left behind like now.
This project of reviving Escolta is just a beginning of better
things ahead of us, that we Filipinos are uniting to show everyone that we
value our culture and our history. We will be looking forward to more of this to
encourage more tourist, locals and foreigners, to visit the old Manila and
relinquish the past.
Here is a collection of photos that were hashtagged #SelfiEscolta
that were uploaded on Instagram and Facebook during the event. Credits to the account holders who hashtagged their
photos and sharing it to the world.
Celebrities who graced the event were Cookie Chua, Bayang
Barrios, Ms. Lolita of Asin, Philippine Ukelele Ensemble and many
more local artists and bands. Celebrities spotted taking their selfies at the
event were Carlos Celdran and Gabe Mercado.
It was an awesome weekend. Looking for more heritage events like these.
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06.07.2014
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