My World#68 Plaza Miranda, Quiapo, Manila

Plaza Miranda is the public plaza or square in front St. John the Baptist Church or more popularly known as Quiapo Church which is located in the old downtown Manila. The plaza was named after Jose Sandino y Miranda, who served as secretary of the treasury of the Philippines for 10 years beginning in 1853.

It is a popular site not only during the Black Nazarene fiesta which is annually held every January 9 but also a popular site for political rallies which had its heydays during the Marcos regime in the 1970s.

On August 21, 1971, while the Liberal Party during that time held their Miting de Avance in the plaza, a bombing occurred, killing 9 and injuring almost 100 civilians.

Nowadays, aside from the unsightly election paraphernalias hanging and plastered everywhere, the plaza is now filled with ambulant vendors selling products ranging from flowers, colored candles with specific purposes (candles for love, good luck, healing the sick, pardon, etc.), fruits, healing herbs, to body massages, palm and card reading.


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My World#32 Mt. Samat, Bataan

The Mt. Samat of Bataan and the island fortress Corregidor were the sites of the most vicious battles in the Philippines during WWII which unfortunately led to the infamous Bataan March in 1942. Both sites are now mute witnesses to the war that led to thousands of dead American and Filipino soldiers.

This is the Shrine of Valor (Dambana ng Kagitingan) of Mt. Samat in Bataan. The memorial site houses a lot of war memoribilias. The cross is called Bataan Cross which rises 92 meters in height. Inside the top of the cross are pictures and memoribilias of the war. It also commands a 360 degree breathtaking view of the place.

Me and my friends went there on a month of April a few days after the commemoration day of the infamous Bataan March. It was summer and the sun was unrelentingly hot. As we did not have our own car in getting there, we had to do some walking to and fro the memorial site (actually, it was more like hiking/climbing). We imagined how it was back then for the soldiers during the march. Tired, hungry and defeated from the battles, they endured the 61 mile walk to the prison camps. It must have been hell.

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