THE Department of Tourism (DOT) has swung open the doors of significant tourist sites in Manila, allowing the latter’s more than 1.5 million residents to visit these for free.
It signed a memorandum of agreement with the Manila City Hall on Saturday to launch the Educational and Cultural Awareness Program that will ensure free access to sites in Intramuros, Rizal Park and Paco Park. The MOA was signed by Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat and Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko” Moreno Domagoso at the latter’s office.
Romulo Puyat said the agreement will benefit over a million residents in Manila, including officials of its 897 barangays, senior citizens and the families enrolled in the “Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program,” dubbed “4Ps.”
“Tourism is about generating an experience. And to let our visitors understand and appreciate this, we ourselves must experience this as well. The people of the City of Manila should be the main advocates and spokespersons of its tourism heritage, culture and history. As it is said, one should not be stranger in his own country,” she underscored.
Intramuros Administrator Guiller Asido told the BusinessMirror, “We are preparing a program to teach them the history of Manila and Intramuros. Our long-term plan is to train them as local community tour guides.”
He added, this is the first time the IA has a program like this with a local government unit.
Following this, Romulo Puyat and Moreno signed another MOA for the turnover of the statue “La Madre Filipina” to the Manila City government. The iconic statue was restored at the foot of the Jones Bridge in Binondo, on Sunday. It had been previously been located at the Rizal Park.
The DOT chief said: “This is not just a restoration of a monument. It is the installation of a silent witness to the history of Manila, from the American Occupation till the end of the Second World War. We entrust back to the city government this piece of priceless art and history for Filipinos to preserve and appreciate.”
La Madre Filipina (The Filipina Mother), is one of the four sculptures of artist Ramon Lazaro Martinez unveiled in 1921, and had adorned the pillars of the historic bridge. Only three of the four statues survived World War II; the other two statues are installed at the Court of Appeals compound in Ermita, Manila.
A replica of the destroyed piece now stands opposite La Madre Filipina at the foot of Jones Bridge that leads to Manila’s Chinatown, and the historic Escolta Street.
Romulo Puyat expressed optimism that the Court of Appeals and National Historical Commission of the Philippines “will also agree to return the last two original La Madre Filipinas to the Jones Bridge soon.”
She lauded the City of Manila, for renovating Jones Bridge and decorating it with neoclassic lamp posts. The bridge has since become a popular tourist spot with a 360-degree view of the Pasig River and downtown Manila.
“We at DOT share Mayor Isko’s passion in urban regeneration to rekindle the capital city’s old glory. It is incredible [to see] what can be achieved when the national and local agencies work together under a common goal. We look forward to replicating this partnership with other LGUs in the country in order to boost tourism and preserve our heritage,” she said.
Constructed to replace the Puente de España (Bridge of Spain) in 1920, Jones Bridge is named after United States legislator William Atkinson Jones, author of the 1916 Jones Law that granted the Philippines legislative autonomy, creating the first elected Philippine legislature prior to the country’s independence.
Since 2012, the DOT had been determined to bring back Manila’s old glory, starting with the renovation of several parts of the walled city of Intramuros and Rizal Park. The latter is under the National Parks Development Committee, an attached agency of the DOT.
Image credits: Intramuros Administration