“PASKO na!”
It’s here, if you drive along Roxas Blvd. and observe those lovely trees lavishly decorated with clusters of capiz-shell lights, quite a ride from T.M. Kalaw to the Manila end of the boulevard at Vito Cruz.
It’s as if the world and time cannot wait for December, now that the civic-minded Lions have donated the tree lights with no cost to the city and the owners of Hapee toothpaste have turned over a truckload of detergents to wash away some of the grime and crime of official neglect.
In Quezon City, Mayor Joy Belmonte’s first job was to dismantle an assortment of ramshackle stalls that added nothing to but merely detracted from the beauty of Quezon Memorial Circle, that which was once nicknamed “forest in the city.” A good start, considering how previous administrations tried to “improve” the forest-park with ugly concrete structures simulating a tawdry “karnabal” and a bald, naked skating rink without shade, rhyme or reason.
QCitizens may now start dreaming of a green Christmas. Ergo, the next best thing would be for the mayor to bring joy by taking out the ugly parking lot (so what if it earns some cheap revenue?) and planting new trees to replace the hundreds chopped down to give way to those manmade atrocities in the middle of the forest.
As the actual, factual season of Christmas approaches, kudos to the following cities for landing in a survey of the 10 safest cities in Southeast Asia: No. 2, Davao; 4, Makati, tied with Hanoi; 7, Iloilo; 10, Cebu. And Vigan for being in CNN’s list of 13 of Asia’s most picturesque towns.
Speaking of parks, and speaking as a QCitizen, my apologies for mixing up Arroceros Forest-Park and Mehan Garden, both in Manila. Mehan is right next to City Hall, no longer camouflaged by the merchandise, rags, and trash of vendors. Arroceros is close by the Metropolitan theater of old and distinguished by a curved wall with its overhang of thick foliage signaling the promise of a paradise within. I’m told photographers and painters used to gather there for inspiration and conversation. Wouldn’t it be nice to revive such a secluded spot just meters away from the hullabaloo of Quiapo?
