Dear Grace,
Thanks for inviting me to join your committee.
I would like to know what specific project/s we hope to undertake. Will that be solely to cater to the Service Projects of RI D-3780 and the Rotary Clubs or we propose a land use for a specific locality or community in QC or do we work hand in hand with the City's Planning and Development Group (influence any revise planning of an area?) in studying the Land Use/Planning of Q.C.?
If you can't get Arch. Palafox, you can try my professor in Land Use Planning who teaches in UP and Miriam College.
Jess
Monday, August 3, 2009
Saturday, July 18, 2009
From your R I District 3780 Urban Planning Committee
Urban planning is a mix of science and art, and integrates various disciplines. It organizes all the elements of a town or city or other urban environments. It determines and draws up plans for the future physical arrangement and socio-economic condition of an area. It is a basic government / public function but participatory planning (or planning with peoples’ and service organizations and cause-oriented and interest groups) continues to gain popularity in world cities.
In the face of scarce financial and other resources, these organizations, including Rotary clubs, are filling in the gaps between actually delivered basic services and the standards and service levels set forth in multi-sectoral city and town plans [physical – environmental balance and clean water, social – community service and development, health, literacy, campaign against hunger, nutrition, shelter, youth programs, and economic opportunities].
These primary and vital services and assistance that are extended by Rotary clubs and Rotary districts and R I, itself (including their partners-in-service), comprise our so-called Service Projects.
In a forthcoming Hands On Presidents’ Meeting, we hope to invite Archt./En.Planner Felino “Jun” Palafox, international planner/designer, or another resource person of similar expertise to undertake advocacy on urban planning and help contextualize our club service projects in the overall development of our city.
The R I District 3780 Urban Planning Committee: PP Grace Ranjo (RC Paraiso)
PP Matthew “Wayne” Wayne (RC Broadway) PP Ver Simbulan (RC Cubao EdSA) PP Jess Jacobe (RC Loyola Heights) PP Ed Madulid (RC Cubao Central)
In the face of scarce financial and other resources, these organizations, including Rotary clubs, are filling in the gaps between actually delivered basic services and the standards and service levels set forth in multi-sectoral city and town plans [physical – environmental balance and clean water, social – community service and development, health, literacy, campaign against hunger, nutrition, shelter, youth programs, and economic opportunities].
These primary and vital services and assistance that are extended by Rotary clubs and Rotary districts and R I, itself (including their partners-in-service), comprise our so-called Service Projects.
In a forthcoming Hands On Presidents’ Meeting, we hope to invite Archt./En.Planner Felino “Jun” Palafox, international planner/designer, or another resource person of similar expertise to undertake advocacy on urban planning and help contextualize our club service projects in the overall development of our city.
The R I District 3780 Urban Planning Committee: PP Grace Ranjo (RC Paraiso)
PP Matthew “Wayne” Wayne (RC Broadway) PP Ver Simbulan (RC Cubao EdSA) PP Jess Jacobe (RC Loyola Heights) PP Ed Madulid (RC Cubao Central)
Saturday, May 23, 2009
A Tale of Two Mountain Schools: A True Story
In 1933 and 1977 two schools were established that I shall call “mountain schools”. The first was located beside Lake Eden in Asheville, North Carolina in a village called Black Mountain, hence the name Black Mountain College. The second is nestled in a ridge of Mt. Makiling in Los Baňos, Laguna - the Philippine High School for the Arts. Black Mountain also started in a “ridge”, in the rented YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly buildings south of Black Mountain village (until 1941). The surrounding Blue Ridge Mountains provided a natural setting for excursions and afternoon hikes for Black Mountain ’s first enrollees. Our arts scholars may not have all of mystical Makiling to themselves as they share the mountain with UP Los Baňos, the NPDC’s Pook ni Mariang Makiling resort and the campgrounds of our local Boy Scouts, among others.
Beyond their similar rural locations, Black Mountain College and our national arts high school started out as two very different institutions although it would not be difficult, as we go on, to hold them in the same light, not so much for their both having produced eminent personalities from among their faculty and students but, rather, for the distinctive influence and focus by which they have guided their students to develop their potentials and learn valuable lessons for life.
As to sponsorship, Black Mountain was founded by ex-Rollins College faculty John Andrew Rice, Theodore Dreier, et. al while our government-run national arts high school is one of Imelda Marcos’ noteworthy mementos. Rice and Dreir where among several other professors who resigned or were fired from Rollins, a coed institution established in 1885 in not so distant Winterpark , Florida .
As to curriculum, in Black Mountain “the arts were central to the (tertiary) educational experience rather than on the periphery” as “the college sought to educate the whole student – head, heart and hand – through studies, the experience of living in a small community and manual work”.
On the other hand, the Philippine High School for the Arts or PHSA “implements a special arts curriculum apart from the secondary level subjects prescribed by the Department of Education”. PHSA is the national center for excellence and leadership in arts, research, training, education, and support programs that aims “to develop artistically gifted and talented (children and adolescents) by implementing a special secondary education curriculum and support programs committed to the conservation and promotion of the Filipino artistic and cultural traditions. The young artists-scholars, faculty, and staff view themselves as “cultural workers dedicated to achieving the school’s thrusts characterized by an unwavering pride in the Filipino people's artistic and cultural traditions”.
Aside from academic and artistic training, PHSA provides its students with opportunities to develop their social skills that will contribute to their development as artists for others. The experience of living away from home and integrating with mentors and peers in this residential high school, cultivates in the young artists an attitude of independence tempered by the spirit of cooperation.”
Black Mountain College “was a consciously directed liberal arts school that grew out of the progressive education movement. In its day it was a unique educational experiment for the artists and writers who conducted it and, as such, an important incubator for the American avant garde.” Black Mountain was later to prove itself as an important precursor to and prototype for many of the present day American alternative colleges, e.g. University of California (Santa Cruz), Evergreen State College, New College of Florida, etc.
Liberal arts “denotes a curriculum that imparts general knowledge …” as differentiated from “the professional, vocational, technical curricula emphasizing specialization”. Contemporary liberal arts comprise studying art, literature, languages, philosophy, politics, history, mathematics, and science. In olden times, liberal arts was “ education proper to a free man” as differentiated from that proper for a slave.
Martianus Capella in the 5th century AD defined the seven liberal arts as: grammar, dialectic, rhetoric, geometry, arithmetic, astronomy, and music. A pagan writer of Late Antiquity and after whom a lunar crater was named, he founded the trivium and quadrivium categories that structured Early Medieval education. He composed his one famous book, fundamental in the history of education, the history of rhetoric and the history of science.
John Dewey’s principles of education were a major influence for Black Mountain . Dewey, with Charles Sanders Peirce and William James, is a founder of the philosophical school of pragmatism and was a leading representative of the progressive movement in U.S. schooling during the first half of the 20th century
“Progressive education is the belief that education must be based on the principle that humans are social animals who learn best in real-life activities with other people.” Progressive-thinking educators “claimed to rely on the best available scientific theories of learning. Most progressive educators believe that children learn as if they were scientists, following a process similar to John Dewey's model of learning: (1) Become aware of the problem; (2) Define the problem, (3) Propose hypotheses to solve it, (4) Evaluate the consequences of the hypotheses from one's past experience, and (5) Test the likeliest solution.”
This roster of Black Mountain ’s eminent faculty and graduates should give us a good view of the courses offered:
1. John Andrew Rice, innovative educator
2. Theodore Dreier, American novelist and journalist, pioneer of the naturalist school and known for portraying characters whose value lies not in their moral code, but in their persistence against all obstacles, and literary situations that more closely resemble studies of nature than tales of choice
3. Buckminster Fuller, who, with student Kenneth Snelson, invented the first geodesic dome (improvised out of slats in the school's back yard),
4. Merce Cunningham, dance
5. John Cage, music
6. Josef Albers, art and design, former Bauhaus teacher
7. Anni Albers (Mrs. Josef Albers), Bauhaus-trained textile designer and weaver
[With the Albers’ arrival, the college became a unique center for the transmission of Bauhaus teaching and philosophy. The presence of refugee artists and scholars was critical to the learning experience at Black Mountain throughout its history.]
8. Heinrich Jalowetz, music (with wife Johanna)
9. Arnold Schoenberg, music
10. Willem de Kooning, art
11. Amedee Ozenfant, art
12. Lyonel Feininger, art
13. Robert Motherwell, art
14. Fannie Hillsmith, art
[de Kooning, Ozenfant, Feininger, Motherwell, and Hillsmith were among the art faculty for the first special summer sessions in 1944 at which time the 1944 Music Institute held to celebrate 70th birthday of Schoenberg and which brought to the small campus the most important interpreters and performers of the music of the composer.]
15. M.C. Richards, literature
16. Albert William Levi, philosophy
17. John Wallen, psychology
18. David Corkran, history
19. Ilya Bolotowsky, art
20. Theodore Rondthaler, history and Latin
21. Trude Guermonprez, weaving
22. Max Wilhelm Dehn, mathematics
For its part, the PHSA curriculum includes the following disciplines and specialized studies for creative and artistic expression:
- Creative Writing: Fiction, Poetry, Playwriting, and Journalism in English and Filipino
- Dance: Classical Ballet, Modern, Philippine Folk, Composition and Staging
- Music: Solo Voice/Solo Instrument, Theory, Composition, and Ensemble
Classes (Chorus and Chamber)
- Theater Arts: Acting, Production Management, Technical Theater, History of the
Theater, Theater Theory and Directing
- Visual Arts: Visual Perception, Sculpture, Art Appreciation, Studio Painting,
Materials and Techniques, Figuration, Pottery, and Printmaking
Elective courses that complement the major arts courses are also offered on a semestral basis: Computer Graphics, Photography, Ethnic Ensemble, Rondalla, Music for Non-Music Major, Music for Dancers, Basic Journalism, Ballroom Dance, Basic Acting for Non-Theater Arts Major, Philippine Folk Dance for Ballet Major, Ballet for Philippine Folk Dance Major, Research in the Arts, and Community Service.
Community Service consists of outreach projects held in both rural and urban communities where students share their learnings and experiences via regular recitals, exhibits, competitions, and festivals. PHSA students also participate in local and foreign educational and exposure trips and periodically renowned artists, cultural leaders, government officials, and alumni hold interactions and master classes with the students. “…co-curricular activities for the students include writing for the school paper, attending religious services, coaching peers, managing the Student Council, and a host of other life-enriching experiences”.
The PHSA’s distinguished alumni include Grace Nono (Theater/Music), Raymond Red (Visual Arts/Film), Gerry Leonardo (Visual Arts/Painting and Installations), Shamaine Buencamino (Theater/Film) Hiyas Hila (Music/child prodigy pianist), Soliman Cruz (Theater/Film), Jonathan Zaens (Music/ bass baritone), Biag Gaongen (Theater) and Candice Adea (Ballet).
At its recent 30th commencement exercises, PHSA was formally inaugurated into the Smart Schools Program through which it can make use of information and communication technology (ICT) in the advancement of the arts in terms of integrating in the educational process and in reaching out to a wider public, as well as access to online content, continuing teacher training and free web hosting services.
As the PHSA reaches out to the world via technology, Black Mountain has remained closed for the last 52 years. The college was owned and operated by the faculty so funds were commonly scarce. Due to the impending war in the 40s, the plans for a campus designed by Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer had to give way to a simpler plan by American architect A. Lawrence Kocher. During schoolyear 1940-1941, students and faculty constructed several buildings including the Studies Building , a faculty cottage for Heinrich Jalowetz, music teacher, and his wife Johanna.
The Second World War “brought new hardship to the college which was too small to qualify for the wartime programs which sustained many colleges and universities”. Young Americans, including Black Mountain students, joined the war effort, and the school community that remained was made up mostly of older Americans, European refugee faculty and women students. The college nevertheless kept with the times, holding summer work camps to complete the construction of the new campus, and expanding the college farm to provide additional food, and mining mica, a strategic war material.
Approval for benefits under the GI Bill of Rights was critical to the post-war survival of the college. New faculty were hired: Americans interested in an alternative teaching environment, as well as refugee professors from Europe . Young men returning from the war were eager to find a non-authoritarian atmosphere in which to study.
In the spring of 1949, after a year of (intellectual) dissension and bitter conflict, Josef and Anni Albers, Theodore Dreier and other faculty resigned. They had been at the college since its beginnings and had provided continuity and structure. There remained a community divided within itself about the direction the college should take.
In the fall of 1949 Black Mountain faced “the formidable task of healing the badly fractured community, of raising funds, and of reexamining the college’s goals.” An administrator hired to reorganize the college and to raise funds failed to do both. Never theless, until 1953, the college continued to have a general curriculum although the offerings were limited. Although the college continued to espouse the inherited ideals of the 1930s such as community living, a farm, work program, and faculty-run college, the community was, in fact, comprised largely of artists and scholars with little interest in farming, administration or maintenance. Periodic efforts to give the college a more traditional structure and program were unsuccessful. A conventional college with an authoritarian administration inevitably meant a loss of academic and creative freedom. The GI Bill benefits were dwindling, and the conservative atmosphere in the 50s made it virtually impossible for experimental ventures to raise funds. Eventually, the faculty was paid in beef allotments and parcels of property were sold. Finally, in the fall of 1956, the closing the college started but a postmortem issue of the Black Mountain Review, the college’s school paper, did not appear until the autumn of 1957.
One October 1995 reunion, the Black Mountain College Museum & Arts Center asked alumni to mount in 18" x 24" panels "letters home to mom," journal entries, art, poetry, photographs, essays and other memorabilia.
The PHSA’s mountain home, Makiling, is threatened by indiscriminate private subdivision and other commercial developments, and a resultant degraded ecology facilitated by corruption at many government levels.
Black Mountain College is now Camp Rockmont , a private, Christian camp serving nearly 1,700 young people from all parts of the world and home to the Black Mountain Festival and the Lake Eden Arts Festival. Listed in the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, its 550 acres of mountainous woodlands and private lake remains a beautiful rustic setting but not as beautiful, perhaps, as when it was home for that one unique experiment in American education then renowned for its an uncommon vitality and responsiveness and remembered until now.
Beyond their similar rural locations, Black Mountain College and our national arts high school started out as two very different institutions although it would not be difficult, as we go on, to hold them in the same light, not so much for their both having produced eminent personalities from among their faculty and students but, rather, for the distinctive influence and focus by which they have guided their students to develop their potentials and learn valuable lessons for life.
As to sponsorship, Black Mountain was founded by ex-Rollins College faculty John Andrew Rice, Theodore Dreier, et. al while our government-run national arts high school is one of Imelda Marcos’ noteworthy mementos. Rice and Dreir where among several other professors who resigned or were fired from Rollins, a coed institution established in 1885 in not so distant Winterpark , Florida .
As to curriculum, in Black Mountain “the arts were central to the (tertiary) educational experience rather than on the periphery” as “the college sought to educate the whole student – head, heart and hand – through studies, the experience of living in a small community and manual work”.
On the other hand, the Philippine High School for the Arts or PHSA “implements a special arts curriculum apart from the secondary level subjects prescribed by the Department of Education”. PHSA is the national center for excellence and leadership in arts, research, training, education, and support programs that aims “to develop artistically gifted and talented (children and adolescents) by implementing a special secondary education curriculum and support programs committed to the conservation and promotion of the Filipino artistic and cultural traditions. The young artists-scholars, faculty, and staff view themselves as “cultural workers dedicated to achieving the school’s thrusts characterized by an unwavering pride in the Filipino people's artistic and cultural traditions”.
Aside from academic and artistic training, PHSA provides its students with opportunities to develop their social skills that will contribute to their development as artists for others. The experience of living away from home and integrating with mentors and peers in this residential high school, cultivates in the young artists an attitude of independence tempered by the spirit of cooperation.”
Black Mountain College “was a consciously directed liberal arts school that grew out of the progressive education movement. In its day it was a unique educational experiment for the artists and writers who conducted it and, as such, an important incubator for the American avant garde.” Black Mountain was later to prove itself as an important precursor to and prototype for many of the present day American alternative colleges, e.g. University of California (Santa Cruz), Evergreen State College, New College of Florida, etc.
Liberal arts “denotes a curriculum that imparts general knowledge …” as differentiated from “the professional, vocational, technical curricula emphasizing specialization”. Contemporary liberal arts comprise studying art, literature, languages, philosophy, politics, history, mathematics, and science. In olden times, liberal arts was “ education proper to a free man” as differentiated from that proper for a slave.
Martianus Capella in the 5th century AD defined the seven liberal arts as: grammar, dialectic, rhetoric, geometry, arithmetic, astronomy, and music. A pagan writer of Late Antiquity and after whom a lunar crater was named, he founded the trivium and quadrivium categories that structured Early Medieval education. He composed his one famous book, fundamental in the history of education, the history of rhetoric and the history of science.
John Dewey’s principles of education were a major influence for Black Mountain . Dewey, with Charles Sanders Peirce and William James, is a founder of the philosophical school of pragmatism and was a leading representative of the progressive movement in U.S. schooling during the first half of the 20th century
“Progressive education is the belief that education must be based on the principle that humans are social animals who learn best in real-life activities with other people.” Progressive-thinking educators “claimed to rely on the best available scientific theories of learning. Most progressive educators believe that children learn as if they were scientists, following a process similar to John Dewey's model of learning: (1) Become aware of the problem; (2) Define the problem, (3) Propose hypotheses to solve it, (4) Evaluate the consequences of the hypotheses from one's past experience, and (5) Test the likeliest solution.”
This roster of Black Mountain ’s eminent faculty and graduates should give us a good view of the courses offered:
1. John Andrew Rice, innovative educator
2. Theodore Dreier, American novelist and journalist, pioneer of the naturalist school and known for portraying characters whose value lies not in their moral code, but in their persistence against all obstacles, and literary situations that more closely resemble studies of nature than tales of choice
3. Buckminster Fuller, who, with student Kenneth Snelson, invented the first geodesic dome (improvised out of slats in the school's back yard),
4. Merce Cunningham, dance
5. John Cage, music
6. Josef Albers, art and design, former Bauhaus teacher
7. Anni Albers (Mrs. Josef Albers), Bauhaus-trained textile designer and weaver
[With the Albers’ arrival, the college became a unique center for the transmission of Bauhaus teaching and philosophy. The presence of refugee artists and scholars was critical to the learning experience at Black Mountain throughout its history.]
8. Heinrich Jalowetz, music (with wife Johanna)
9. Arnold Schoenberg, music
10. Willem de Kooning, art
11. Amedee Ozenfant, art
12. Lyonel Feininger, art
13. Robert Motherwell, art
14. Fannie Hillsmith, art
[de Kooning, Ozenfant, Feininger, Motherwell, and Hillsmith were among the art faculty for the first special summer sessions in 1944 at which time the 1944 Music Institute held to celebrate 70th birthday of Schoenberg and which brought to the small campus the most important interpreters and performers of the music of the composer.]
15. M.C. Richards, literature
16. Albert William Levi, philosophy
17. John Wallen, psychology
18. David Corkran, history
19. Ilya Bolotowsky, art
20. Theodore Rondthaler, history and Latin
21. Trude Guermonprez, weaving
22. Max Wilhelm Dehn, mathematics
For its part, the PHSA curriculum includes the following disciplines and specialized studies for creative and artistic expression:
- Creative Writing: Fiction, Poetry, Playwriting, and Journalism in English and Filipino
- Dance: Classical Ballet, Modern, Philippine Folk, Composition and Staging
- Music: Solo Voice/Solo Instrument, Theory, Composition, and Ensemble
Classes (Chorus and Chamber)
- Theater Arts: Acting, Production Management, Technical Theater, History of the
Theater, Theater Theory and Directing
- Visual Arts: Visual Perception, Sculpture, Art Appreciation, Studio Painting,
Materials and Techniques, Figuration, Pottery, and Printmaking
Elective courses that complement the major arts courses are also offered on a semestral basis: Computer Graphics, Photography, Ethnic Ensemble, Rondalla, Music for Non-Music Major, Music for Dancers, Basic Journalism, Ballroom Dance, Basic Acting for Non-Theater Arts Major, Philippine Folk Dance for Ballet Major, Ballet for Philippine Folk Dance Major, Research in the Arts, and Community Service.
Community Service consists of outreach projects held in both rural and urban communities where students share their learnings and experiences via regular recitals, exhibits, competitions, and festivals. PHSA students also participate in local and foreign educational and exposure trips and periodically renowned artists, cultural leaders, government officials, and alumni hold interactions and master classes with the students. “…co-curricular activities for the students include writing for the school paper, attending religious services, coaching peers, managing the Student Council, and a host of other life-enriching experiences”.
The PHSA’s distinguished alumni include Grace Nono (Theater/Music), Raymond Red (Visual Arts/Film), Gerry Leonardo (Visual Arts/Painting and Installations), Shamaine Buencamino (Theater/Film) Hiyas Hila (Music/child prodigy pianist), Soliman Cruz (Theater/Film), Jonathan Zaens (Music/ bass baritone), Biag Gaongen (Theater) and Candice Adea (Ballet).
At its recent 30th commencement exercises, PHSA was formally inaugurated into the Smart Schools Program through which it can make use of information and communication technology (ICT) in the advancement of the arts in terms of integrating in the educational process and in reaching out to a wider public, as well as access to online content, continuing teacher training and free web hosting services.
As the PHSA reaches out to the world via technology, Black Mountain has remained closed for the last 52 years. The college was owned and operated by the faculty so funds were commonly scarce. Due to the impending war in the 40s, the plans for a campus designed by Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer had to give way to a simpler plan by American architect A. Lawrence Kocher. During schoolyear 1940-1941, students and faculty constructed several buildings including the Studies Building , a faculty cottage for Heinrich Jalowetz, music teacher, and his wife Johanna.
The Second World War “brought new hardship to the college which was too small to qualify for the wartime programs which sustained many colleges and universities”. Young Americans, including Black Mountain students, joined the war effort, and the school community that remained was made up mostly of older Americans, European refugee faculty and women students. The college nevertheless kept with the times, holding summer work camps to complete the construction of the new campus, and expanding the college farm to provide additional food, and mining mica, a strategic war material.
Approval for benefits under the GI Bill of Rights was critical to the post-war survival of the college. New faculty were hired: Americans interested in an alternative teaching environment, as well as refugee professors from Europe . Young men returning from the war were eager to find a non-authoritarian atmosphere in which to study.
In the spring of 1949, after a year of (intellectual) dissension and bitter conflict, Josef and Anni Albers, Theodore Dreier and other faculty resigned. They had been at the college since its beginnings and had provided continuity and structure. There remained a community divided within itself about the direction the college should take.
In the fall of 1949 Black Mountain faced “the formidable task of healing the badly fractured community, of raising funds, and of reexamining the college’s goals.” An administrator hired to reorganize the college and to raise funds failed to do both. Never theless, until 1953, the college continued to have a general curriculum although the offerings were limited. Although the college continued to espouse the inherited ideals of the 1930s such as community living, a farm, work program, and faculty-run college, the community was, in fact, comprised largely of artists and scholars with little interest in farming, administration or maintenance. Periodic efforts to give the college a more traditional structure and program were unsuccessful. A conventional college with an authoritarian administration inevitably meant a loss of academic and creative freedom. The GI Bill benefits were dwindling, and the conservative atmosphere in the 50s made it virtually impossible for experimental ventures to raise funds. Eventually, the faculty was paid in beef allotments and parcels of property were sold. Finally, in the fall of 1956, the closing the college started but a postmortem issue of the Black Mountain Review, the college’s school paper, did not appear until the autumn of 1957.
One October 1995 reunion, the Black Mountain College Museum & Arts Center asked alumni to mount in 18" x 24" panels "letters home to mom," journal entries, art, poetry, photographs, essays and other memorabilia.
The PHSA’s mountain home, Makiling, is threatened by indiscriminate private subdivision and other commercial developments, and a resultant degraded ecology facilitated by corruption at many government levels.
Black Mountain College is now Camp Rockmont , a private, Christian camp serving nearly 1,700 young people from all parts of the world and home to the Black Mountain Festival and the Lake Eden Arts Festival. Listed in the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, its 550 acres of mountainous woodlands and private lake remains a beautiful rustic setting but not as beautiful, perhaps, as when it was home for that one unique experiment in American education then renowned for its an uncommon vitality and responsiveness and remembered until now.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
THE OLD HOUSES OF SAN JUAN
(work in progress)
San Juan
San Juan City was once the Municipality of San Juan del Monte until June 17, 2007 when it gained cityhood.
Its borders are Quezon City (N and E), Mandaluyong City (S), and Manila (W), hence its claim to "being in the center" even as it is the second smallest, in land area, among the Metro Manila cities and municipalities - 5.94 sq. kms.- land area, < 1 percent of MM total area. [12º 36’ latitude due M and 121º 02 longitude due E]
In this limited territory, there was recorded in 2006 a population of over 204,000.
Before the Spanish colonistas arrived, San Juan was a village, later an encomienda in the 1590s. Later, as a barrio of Santa Ana de Sapa, it was ruled by the Muslim chieftain, Lakan Tagkan (married to Bouan).
In 1602, the Dominican friars built a retreat house for their immediate use, where aging convalescing friars stayed. Later, the Dominicans Constructed a convent sanctuary and a stone church dedicated to the Holy Cross, a church destined to be ravaged during the Spanish occupation. To this day, the thrice-rebuilt church of the Holy Cross stands on the same site, with the Aquinas School for the boys and the Dominican College (Colegio de Jesus Maria) for the girls. In 1783, San Juan became independent of Sta. Ana but it was still then a barrio.
History remained silent in the town of San Juan until August 30, 1896 when Spanish-Filipino war erupted and became the most inspiring battle in our history, the Battle of San Juan Del Monte.
= the town derived its name from the patron saint San Juan de Bautista (Saint John the Baptist), and “Del Monte,” often annexed to it, was named after the hilly structure of the land. =
Municipality to Highly-Urbanized City
For quite some time, the effort to convert the Municipality into a highly-urbanized city had been difficult. Not only because of its small land area and limited income, but its population, according the National Statistics Office, seemed to be decreasing every census year despite the influx of people due to establishment of high-rise condominiums and business enterprises in the municipality.
In 2006, Representative Ronaldo Zamora re-filed the cityhood bill in the House of Representatives geared with a special computation of its population and boasting of the remarkable 200% increase in its income. It was approved and later forwarded to the Philippine Senate. Both Houses approved the bill and, on March 2008, it was transmitted to the Office of the President for signature. The 30-day veto period lapsed which automatically entitled the provision to a plebiscite.
After months of campaign, the plebiscite was held and received more than 96% of YES votes. On June 17, 2008, Republic Act 9388 Converting the Municipality of San Juan into a Highly Urbanized City was approved.
Location and General Description
San Juan is a small congested City located in the heart of Metro Manila. It is among the smallest political subdivisions of the Metropolis. Its land area of 5.94 sq. kms. accounts for less than 1 percent of the region. Located in the very center of the Metropolis, it is bounded by Manila in the west, Quezon City in the north and Mandaluyong in the east and south, at coordinates.
San Juan may be described as a congested town with very little space for expansion. It is predominantly residential with scattered commercial and manufacturing establishments. The City is politically divided into 2 Districts with 10 barangays in District 1 and 11 barangays in District 2.
Because of its central location and its accessibility to and from all points of the region, San Juan has attracted migrants from other areas. The presence of squatter settlements is a problem the city government has to perennially contend with.
Physical Features
Physiography and Terrain
San Juan is composed entirely of undulating low grade tuffaceous plateau of soil. This means that it has the depth and stability to carry almost any type of construction and it has the ability to absorb and hold water.
Most of San Juan’s terrain is gently rolling with a predominant slope of 2 – 12%. However there are flat areas with a slope of 0 –1% scattered along the western boundary and other parts of the city. Except for these flat areas, the physiography and terrain of San Juan make it ideal for urban development.
Flood and Earthquake Risk
Being in the heart of region’s central plateau, the city is free of earthquake damage risks.
However, areas along the western boundary rimmed by the San Juan River are sometimes visited by floods are barangays Salapan, Balong Bato, Progreso, Rivera, San Perfecto, Batis and sometimes Kabayanan.
Land Use
Of the city’s 5.94 square kilometers total land area, about 63.5% square or 3.77 square kilometers are residential, 16% or 0.95 square kilometers is road network 8.9% or 0.53 square kilometer is commercial, 6.7% or 0.40 square kilometer is institutional and the remaining 4.9% or 0.29 square kilometer is industrial.
Approximately, 10% of San Juan has been rendered unfit for development due to high flood risk and level slope. However, the remaining 90% has very good capacities for urban development.
Based on the proposed land use, the land area intended for commercial use rose significantly to 0.99 square kilometer, representing 17% of the town’s total land area intended for commercial use rose significantly to 0.99 square kilometer, representing 17% of the town’s total land area. Land area proposed for institutional use also expanded to 0.42 square kilometer, accounting for 7.1% of the total. On the other hand, land area designed for residential and industrial uses were reduced to 3.54 and 0.05 square kilometers, respectively. Meanwhile, the land area for road network is still the same at 0.95 square kilometer.
Natural Drainage
Aside from the San Juan River which runs along the western order of the municipality, two narrow creeks outline the north western and south western borders of San Juan. The Ermitaño creek from the northern border of Barangay Pasadena near the creek are also visited by floods due to the presence of the creek.
Maytunas creek, on the other hand, runs along the southern border of the municipality but hardly causes flooding on the surrounding areas.
Population and Demography
Considered as the second smallest in the metropolis, the population of San Juan exhibited a downward trend. From 126,708 inhabitants in 1990, the city’s total population slid to 120,752 in 2002 or a reduction of 4.7%. As a matter of fact, from 1990 onwards, an annual decline in the population has been observed, averaging at 0.39%. This was a stark contrast to the city’s total population of 129,833 in 1980, whose growth was attributed to both migration and natural increase. The town’s total population represents 1.2% of the region’s total.
While a drop in the town’s population was reported, increases in the number of inhabitants were registered in some of its barangays. From the year 2000 to 2002, population growths were reported in eight barangays, with barangay Rivera and St. Joseph registering the biggest growth rates of 26% and 21%, respectively. Other barangays, which exhibited increases in population, include Greenhills, Sta. Lucia, San Perfecto, Salapan, Progreso and Isabelita.
Although San Juan’s total population decreases, its population density on the other hand, rises. Population density is the number of persons per unit of area. From 21,323 persons per square kilometer in 1990, the town’s population density rose to 21,063 persons per square kilometer in 2003.
This indicates that San Juan is becoming less densely populated as the number of people, who live on each square kilometer of its total land area, has reduced to 21,063 persons per square kilometer in 2003 from 21,323 persons per square in 1990.
Of the municipality’s total population, 53% or 64,537 are males while 47% or 56,215 are females.
The population of San Juan is relatively young. 27% or 32,165 people of the town’s inhabitants belong to the age bracket under 1-14 years old.
Copyright © 2008 San Juan City
Tel. (6
San Juan
San Juan City was once the Municipality of San Juan del Monte until June 17, 2007 when it gained cityhood.
Its borders are Quezon City (N and E), Mandaluyong City (S), and Manila (W), hence its claim to "being in the center" even as it is the second smallest, in land area, among the Metro Manila cities and municipalities - 5.94 sq. kms.- land area, < 1 percent of MM total area. [12º 36’ latitude due M and 121º 02 longitude due E]
In this limited territory, there was recorded in 2006 a population of over 204,000.
Before the Spanish colonistas arrived, San Juan was a village, later an encomienda in the 1590s. Later, as a barrio of Santa Ana de Sapa, it was ruled by the Muslim chieftain, Lakan Tagkan (married to Bouan).
In 1602, the Dominican friars built a retreat house for their immediate use, where aging convalescing friars stayed. Later, the Dominicans Constructed a convent sanctuary and a stone church dedicated to the Holy Cross, a church destined to be ravaged during the Spanish occupation. To this day, the thrice-rebuilt church of the Holy Cross stands on the same site, with the Aquinas School for the boys and the Dominican College (Colegio de Jesus Maria) for the girls. In 1783, San Juan became independent of Sta. Ana but it was still then a barrio.
History remained silent in the town of San Juan until August 30, 1896 when Spanish-Filipino war erupted and became the most inspiring battle in our history, the Battle of San Juan Del Monte.
= the town derived its name from the patron saint San Juan de Bautista (Saint John the Baptist), and “Del Monte,” often annexed to it, was named after the hilly structure of the land. =
Municipality to Highly-Urbanized City
For quite some time, the effort to convert the Municipality into a highly-urbanized city had been difficult. Not only because of its small land area and limited income, but its population, according the National Statistics Office, seemed to be decreasing every census year despite the influx of people due to establishment of high-rise condominiums and business enterprises in the municipality.
In 2006, Representative Ronaldo Zamora re-filed the cityhood bill in the House of Representatives geared with a special computation of its population and boasting of the remarkable 200% increase in its income. It was approved and later forwarded to the Philippine Senate. Both Houses approved the bill and, on March 2008, it was transmitted to the Office of the President for signature. The 30-day veto period lapsed which automatically entitled the provision to a plebiscite.
After months of campaign, the plebiscite was held and received more than 96% of YES votes. On June 17, 2008, Republic Act 9388 Converting the Municipality of San Juan into a Highly Urbanized City was approved.
Location and General Description
San Juan is a small congested City located in the heart of Metro Manila. It is among the smallest political subdivisions of the Metropolis. Its land area of 5.94 sq. kms. accounts for less than 1 percent of the region. Located in the very center of the Metropolis, it is bounded by Manila in the west, Quezon City in the north and Mandaluyong in the east and south, at coordinates.
San Juan may be described as a congested town with very little space for expansion. It is predominantly residential with scattered commercial and manufacturing establishments. The City is politically divided into 2 Districts with 10 barangays in District 1 and 11 barangays in District 2.
Because of its central location and its accessibility to and from all points of the region, San Juan has attracted migrants from other areas. The presence of squatter settlements is a problem the city government has to perennially contend with.
Physical Features
Physiography and Terrain
San Juan is composed entirely of undulating low grade tuffaceous plateau of soil. This means that it has the depth and stability to carry almost any type of construction and it has the ability to absorb and hold water.
Most of San Juan’s terrain is gently rolling with a predominant slope of 2 – 12%. However there are flat areas with a slope of 0 –1% scattered along the western boundary and other parts of the city. Except for these flat areas, the physiography and terrain of San Juan make it ideal for urban development.
Flood and Earthquake Risk
Being in the heart of region’s central plateau, the city is free of earthquake damage risks.
However, areas along the western boundary rimmed by the San Juan River are sometimes visited by floods are barangays Salapan, Balong Bato, Progreso, Rivera, San Perfecto, Batis and sometimes Kabayanan.
Land Use
Of the city’s 5.94 square kilometers total land area, about 63.5% square or 3.77 square kilometers are residential, 16% or 0.95 square kilometers is road network 8.9% or 0.53 square kilometer is commercial, 6.7% or 0.40 square kilometer is institutional and the remaining 4.9% or 0.29 square kilometer is industrial.
Approximately, 10% of San Juan has been rendered unfit for development due to high flood risk and level slope. However, the remaining 90% has very good capacities for urban development.
Based on the proposed land use, the land area intended for commercial use rose significantly to 0.99 square kilometer, representing 17% of the town’s total land area intended for commercial use rose significantly to 0.99 square kilometer, representing 17% of the town’s total land area. Land area proposed for institutional use also expanded to 0.42 square kilometer, accounting for 7.1% of the total. On the other hand, land area designed for residential and industrial uses were reduced to 3.54 and 0.05 square kilometers, respectively. Meanwhile, the land area for road network is still the same at 0.95 square kilometer.
Natural Drainage
Aside from the San Juan River which runs along the western order of the municipality, two narrow creeks outline the north western and south western borders of San Juan. The Ermitaño creek from the northern border of Barangay Pasadena near the creek are also visited by floods due to the presence of the creek.
Maytunas creek, on the other hand, runs along the southern border of the municipality but hardly causes flooding on the surrounding areas.
Population and Demography
Considered as the second smallest in the metropolis, the population of San Juan exhibited a downward trend. From 126,708 inhabitants in 1990, the city’s total population slid to 120,752 in 2002 or a reduction of 4.7%. As a matter of fact, from 1990 onwards, an annual decline in the population has been observed, averaging at 0.39%. This was a stark contrast to the city’s total population of 129,833 in 1980, whose growth was attributed to both migration and natural increase. The town’s total population represents 1.2% of the region’s total.
While a drop in the town’s population was reported, increases in the number of inhabitants were registered in some of its barangays. From the year 2000 to 2002, population growths were reported in eight barangays, with barangay Rivera and St. Joseph registering the biggest growth rates of 26% and 21%, respectively. Other barangays, which exhibited increases in population, include Greenhills, Sta. Lucia, San Perfecto, Salapan, Progreso and Isabelita.
Although San Juan’s total population decreases, its population density on the other hand, rises. Population density is the number of persons per unit of area. From 21,323 persons per square kilometer in 1990, the town’s population density rose to 21,063 persons per square kilometer in 2003.
This indicates that San Juan is becoming less densely populated as the number of people, who live on each square kilometer of its total land area, has reduced to 21,063 persons per square kilometer in 2003 from 21,323 persons per square in 1990.
Of the municipality’s total population, 53% or 64,537 are males while 47% or 56,215 are females.
The population of San Juan is relatively young. 27% or 32,165 people of the town’s inhabitants belong to the age bracket under 1-14 years old.
Copyright © 2008 San Juan City
Tel. (6
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS
If it is true what my mother has often said that I was brought with the family to the cemetery every 1st of November since I was born, and since my mother does not lie, then this past 1st of November was the first time that I was not with my family (or whoever are left of it) in the “memorial park” where my parents’ remains lie buried.
1st of November. My family (or at least three generations back), like many other Filipinos, believe that the 1st of November is the day to be at the cemetery, the memorial park, the church crypt, or any other burial ground. And when I could read and understand, I thought that it was presumptuous on our part (my family’s and those who crowd the Cementerio del Norte) to assume that the faithful departed among our family members have indeed become saints so that the 1st of November was truly their feast. When I could read and understand better, I learned that the 1st of November is for the saints and that the next day (All Souls’ Day) was dedicated for those who have died and are not yet or will never be saints. Whatever! I have taken much solace from my college alma mater’s hymn that her alumni, at life’s end, become “like stars in the heaven” (como estrellas en los cielos).
You see, I was born almost right before the death of my mother’s youngest sister. So that, again according to my mother, I was bundled up to Norte in the dark hours of Todos los Santos starting the year I was born, not two months old even, so that we all could ride into the cemetery before it closes its gates to vehicular traffic. We had “comfortable accomodations”, enough parking for two vehicles (including one that had curtains and an urinola), and great expectations about who of our relatives would come by first during the day. When I was a bit grown up and able to appreciate breads, part of my great expectation was pan de sal from Baliuag – a pasalubong from a kapitbahay sa sementeryo. Or should it be kapitlibingan? Whatever!
The pan de sal were yellowish (the eggs or the food coloring?), smaller in size than what was available near where we lived (in San Juan ), and allegedly masarap kahit walang palaman. And, perhaps, because I kept hearing that it was masarap kahit walang palaman, I accepted them as such but not for very long when I learned to bring some mantequilla, potted meat and leftover tortang itlog (more like an omelet with onions, tomatoes bell pepper and some meat) so that my pan de sal was really good because may palaman. To this very day, I taking pan without palaman remains unacceptable to me because doing so was a display of sheer lack of resourcefulness, if not downright lack of initiative to go against public opinion and to better one’s lot.
So where was I last 1st of November? Inspired by __________ about "kissing your ancestors’ bones”, I resolved that I would spend that day in Pasuquin where the remains of my father’s father were (last) laid to rest.
about Pasuquin … past visits
30 Oct SCTEX
If it is true what my mother has often said that I was brought with the family to the cemetery every 1st of November since I was born, and since my mother does not lie, then this past 1st of November was the first time that I was not with my family (or whoever are left of it) in the “memorial park” where my parents’ remains lie buried.
1st of November. My family (or at least three generations back), like many other Filipinos, believe that the 1st of November is the day to be at the cemetery, the memorial park, the church crypt, or any other burial ground. And when I could read and understand, I thought that it was presumptuous on our part (my family’s and those who crowd the Cementerio del Norte) to assume that the faithful departed among our family members have indeed become saints so that the 1st of November was truly their feast. When I could read and understand better, I learned that the 1st of November is for the saints and that the next day (All Souls’ Day) was dedicated for those who have died and are not yet or will never be saints. Whatever! I have taken much solace from my college alma mater’s hymn that her alumni, at life’s end, become “like stars in the heaven” (como estrellas en los cielos).
You see, I was born almost right before the death of my mother’s youngest sister. So that, again according to my mother, I was bundled up to Norte in the dark hours of Todos los Santos starting the year I was born, not two months old even, so that we all could ride into the cemetery before it closes its gates to vehicular traffic. We had “comfortable accomodations”, enough parking for two vehicles (including one that had curtains and an urinola), and great expectations about who of our relatives would come by first during the day. When I was a bit grown up and able to appreciate breads, part of my great expectation was pan de sal from Baliuag – a pasalubong from a kapitbahay sa sementeryo. Or should it be kapitlibingan? Whatever!
The pan de sal were yellowish (the eggs or the food coloring?), smaller in size than what was available near where we lived (in San Juan ), and allegedly masarap kahit walang palaman. And, perhaps, because I kept hearing that it was masarap kahit walang palaman, I accepted them as such but not for very long when I learned to bring some mantequilla, potted meat and leftover tortang itlog (more like an omelet with onions, tomatoes bell pepper and some meat) so that my pan de sal was really good because may palaman. To this very day, I taking pan without palaman remains unacceptable to me because doing so was a display of sheer lack of resourcefulness, if not downright lack of initiative to go against public opinion and to better one’s lot.
So where was I last 1st of November? Inspired by __________ about "kissing your ancestors’ bones”, I resolved that I would spend that day in Pasuquin where the remains of my father’s father were (last) laid to rest.
about Pasuquin … past visits
30 Oct SCTEX
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