Intramuros

Every time a foreign relative or a friend from abroad serves notice of an impending visit with a request for a tour of Manila, I panic. What is there to show in Metro Manila?

I can’t very well bring them to our malls. Our malls are our new town plazas where people congregate and socialize. But they have malls where they come from too.

Chinatown is interesting specially for the food. But there is a Chinatown in almost every major world city. Ours isn’t even that clean. The estero is almost totally covered in garbage. My American brother-in-law saw that smelly situation when I walked him around there. Nakakahiya.

Face it. Manila is ugly... dirty. I used a gift certificate for two nights stay at the Diamond Hotel during the Holy Week. Sure, the view of Manila Bay, specially at sunset, is awesome. Went to the window facing north and saw M.H. del Pilar street down below and it was depressingly Third World ugly.

Rusty rooftops of old structures just aren’t pretty. This is supposed to be the tourist district but it is nothing to be proud of. At street level, I am sure it is worse. From the 21st floor, Manila looks better at night when darkness hides the grime.

I wonder why those old and dilapidated structures are still there. Property values have gone up by leaps and bounds and I am sure the property owners are not maximizing the value of their land. Maybe the real property tax rate of Manila is too low, otherwise, it would be uneconomic to keep those pretty shameful structures the way they are.

So, where do I take my foreign guests who want a tour of Manila?

Intramuros. Unfortunately, we have not polished Intramuros to be the gem of a heritage town that it is. Intramuros and Fort Santiago are the two places I would be proud to take foreign guests to, if only these places were cleaner and more tourist friendly.

A swarm of watch your car boys converged on us at the San Agustin Church one afternoon I attended a wedding. A visiting social scientist will appreciate the dramatic social disparities we have to deal with as a nation. It will not give a good first impression for ordinary foreign visitors.

Malacca in Malaysia is like a smaller version of Intramuros/Ft Santiago but it attracts eight million tourists a year. Maybe half of that are Singaporeans who drive up. But it is still a nice number that would cause Tourism Sec Mon Jimenez to salivate.

Walking around Malacca is like walking around here… humid and sticky. But they tried hard to make it memorable. They even concocted a “river cruise” that passed by a fake typical Malay kampong or settlement. The old Nayong Pilipino was way better. There were some museums and a lot of eating places plus a night market. There were plenty of tourists.

Intramuros is better than Malacca except that we have allowed Intramuros to rot. I found it ironic that Andrew Tan of Megaworld tried to recreate Venice at McKinley Hill that looks so fake. No Tourism Secretary thought to ask him to recreate our very own historical township called Intramuros instead.

I tried to arrange a meeting between the head of Intramuros Administration (IA) and Tong Padilla of Rockwell in the hope they could think up of something. I was thinking of Intramuros with several Vigan-like streets and ambience. Well, that head of IA has since resigned for health reasons and there is a new one now.

As it turns out, Marco Sardillo, the new head was my son’s classmate at Ateneo who spent time studying at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Administration in Singapore. He is gung-ho about what he can accomplish in his job.

I like it when he said “I am proud to say that I studied at LKY School and learned from Singapore that the word ‘plan’ need not be a bad word-- because, with enough political will and decisive action, it can lead to progress.” I would love to hear that from the guys at DOTC.

That’s probably what Intramuros needs… young blood… someone who knows the challenges but is not daunted because unlike older guys, is not yet cynical about our society. I had a brief conversation with Marco when my son was visiting from San Francisco. I got the impression that we have a head of IA who knows what to do.

Marco shared the plans of Intramuros Administration--including the broad strokes of his strategy

pertaining to the informal settler families (ISF), i.e. to strike a balance between slum upgrading and very near-the-site-resettlement. He said there is an existing Urban Development Plan for Intramuros that was prepared in 1991. He has dusted it off and made it his mission to implement it.

Marco explained that all nine sites that the ISFs are presently occupying are privately owned. Marco explained that having worked with the urban poor (before joining IA), he has no qualms about reaching out to and working with the ISFs. In fact, he had been the only Administrator to ever enter these sites. This has helped foster trust, and the ISFs are willing to work with IA.

Marco said he pleaded with the ISFs to give him a chance to try this strategy of near-site resettlement. In the past, government focused on plain and simple resettlement which uproots people from livelihood sources.

Marco explains that the ISFs occupy barely 5%

of the total land area of Intramuros. Land values in Intramuros are depressed, not because of the ISFs, but because of urban blight-- a considerable chunk of land being devoted to equally prohibited and deplorable uses such as warehousing and trucking.

Marco said he has assembled a formidable team of champions and allies-- all the key government housing agencies, private sector partners, including Cardinal Tagle.

“We have identified a test/pilot site that we intend to restore and redevelop into an HDB-style low-rental housing option. We have also reached out to and exploring a cooperation with the Philippine Ports Authority, for possible near-the-site-resettlement.”

But to Marco, the real issue is urban blight and not just the usual targets (informal settlers). He is finalizing a program on urban renewal.

Marco is inspired by similar redevelopment policies and programs (e.g. District of Columbia’s Redevelopment Act of 1945, New York City’s 42nd Street

Redevelopment Project, etc.). A lawyer, he is now looking into possibly condemning and acquiring/ expropriating blighted areas, and offering these for reinvestment by the private sector-- partners who will be contractually obligated to put these properties to better use.

“We have the power of eminent domain, and we have the right of first refusal, in the case of sale of real properties.”

It is a big task and Marco knows it. He is aware of his deadline too… co-terminus with P-Noy.

“When we start to implement our urban renewal program, maybe property owners will start utilizing their land following principles of good stewardship and for the common good. Intramuros is a rich symbol of what is possible, and it rests on our shoulders to unpack and realize these possibilities-- and to turn them into inspiration for others.”

The Intramuros Administration turned 36 years old last Friday. IA was created by Presidential Decree 1616 on April 10, 1979. But enthusiastic as Marco is, this important heritage project needs widespread support from all Filipinos. The landowners within Intramuros must be patriotic enough to do their part or step back and let government do it for the good of the entire country.

Personal note

Today, I am undoubtedly a senior citizen. I am stunned that five years have come and gone so quickly since I was retired by Lopez Holdings when I turned 60.

Father Time must be gulping bottles of Red Bull because today I am turning 65 and it is all a blur. If I have been in denial because being 60 in other countries doesn’t make you a senior citizen just yet, now it is undeniable.

With all my kids working abroad and doing well, my only concern now is doing what I can to leave this world with my country better off than when I was born into it. Given the headlines lately, I am not encouraged. I cannot afford to get tired nagging the likes of DOTC to get things moving.

But listening to Marco explain his mission to revive Intramuros, I was reassured that there are young people like him to secure our dreams but that is a task that requires every Filipino to think of nation and the common good. It takes all of us Filipinos to make our country one we can be proud of. It is not easy to build our nation but it is a worthwhile task. Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is bchanco@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco