Abominations Part 1

In 1998, a lot of prominent folks in Manila were practically foaming at the mouth following remarks made by visiting Hollywood actress Claire Danes about the city being a “weird and ghastly place”.

To those who have never been to our country, “Manila” could either refer to the City of Manila, which had long been the seat of government; or it could refer to Metro Manila, which includes 17 cities, one of which is the City of Manila. We now refer to Metro Manila as the National Capital Region, or the NCR. I am a resident of what many would consider to be an upper middle-class area of this region. Having made this claim, I will share a few images of what I usually see whenever I go out for my early morning walks. For ease of reference, kindly indulge me as I temporarily lump them into a single word – abominations.

To whichever “Manila” Ms. Danes had referred to, I thought that these abominations probably prompted her to describe, with 2 memorable adjectives, the metropolis I grew up in and have loved sufficiently to refer to as my home. I decided against conducting a poll here as to the possible causes of what could, in retrospect, be justifiably described as “ghastly”, due to limited context. Instead, I enumerated all possible explanations and summed up with 5:

1. Poor planning/control by leaders/manager/planners.

2. Poor execution by employees, perhaps due to lack of training.

3. Lack of pride in one’s work with a blatant lack of care that anyone would notice. (culture)

4. Insufficient resources, including time, during execution. (economics)

5. All of the above.

No question that my country still has a long way to go towards becoming First World, where most power, water, telephone, gas and sewage lines presumably now all run underground and out of everyone’s notice. To be fair, there are now a few areas within NCR and even other parts of our country where this is already the case. So perhaps there was a time when aesthetics and presentation didn’t matter so much as the urgent need to supply electricity and communication. Yes, a shortage of resources is frequently the reality here in the developing world; and often this would be enough to dismiss the first 3 explanations outright.

The question staring us in the face is, would improved access to resources be enough to address issues that led to these abominations?

Perhaps there is a need to ask Australia, Brazil and Myanmar about their experience with moving their respective seats of government. Perhaps there is also a need to ask Indonesia and Egypt about preparations they are now making for the eventual transfer of their capitals. It would not come as a shock if at least one of them would argue that it has not been all about access to resources, but also about the urban planners and designers, the crewmen executing their plans, and the collective attitudes of everyone involved and affected.

(End of Part 1)