What makes Manila a great city? And how can we improve it further?

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Mac M

Hi Carlos--it's Mac. I wrote a long reply to your question, all filled with interesting detail and lucid prognostications and my computer ate it before I could send it. Lacking the energy to reproduce such a virtuiso performance, you now get the cut-down version.

The history and the trees.

We all are aware of Manila as an international capitol and center of national culture and entertainment, but the history is frequently overlooked. I'm an expat and still I find I know more of Manila's history than many people. Of course, I've lived here longer than a sizeable portion of its present population has been alive.

Trees. Look out your window. Most places you can see at least a dozen trees. Few cities in the world have so many, and they are often taken for granted or even abused. But never mind the abuse--they always spring back. Let's hope it will always be so.

In the area of improvement, I'd just like to point out that few of Manila's problems are likely to be solved until government officials are elected on the basis of performance ONLY.

Just as people in the countryside look to "Manila" as the source and solution of all problems, here in the city we tend to place blame on "the government" or "the city" or some such. The fact is that all the problems with missing solutions are actually the baliwick of various elected and appointed officials.

As I said, I'm an expat, so I don't get to vote. But if I did get to vote, the people who never come up with a viable solution to long-standing problems or who fail to follow up on good programs--letting them fall to the evils of unintended consequences--would never get my vote again.

Improvement will come to Manila when politicians understand that they must really deliver actual government services if they hope to be re-elected.

appleglaze28

My suggestion would be to have people living in the squatters to be eduated by the government not only the children but also the adults.

If it weren't for them, Pasig River won't be polluted. If the producers of Batman Returns think that the water of Victoria Harbour is polluted for actor Christian Bale, what more if the Pasig River? People in the Philippines lack descipline, people throwing trash everywhere, spitting everywhere, pee anywhere they like...this would just make us savages.

A law professor I had back in college told me of an incident when he and his wife went to Singapore. He said, if people in the Philippines could be sent to Singapore then maybe they'd have descipline when they come back like crossing at the pedestrian, throwing garbage properly, not sticking gums underneath tables and things like that.

As much as I respect how devoted people of this country of our religion, but most of these people validate what the Western people do. They have unprotected sex and bare at least 2 to 4 children more than they can feed and support. Lots of children here in the Philippines, aren't properly educated of sex they just do it cause they know that's what Western people do. Some girls as young as 12 or 13 get pregnant and still at high school or about to go to high school. When this people grow older and find it hard to get by day to day, they resort of stealing. Sometimes they even teach children to steal.

However crimes don't only involve petty theft. Some people for their greed and yearning for prestige sort to kidnapping and putting lives in danger so they can fuel their need to either gambling needs or their need to show off they are well off. Poor people here are more of greedy than other people in other country cause you give them even 25, 10 or 5 cent they would just throw it away. When people in their situations in other countries would still consider those small quarters, dimes and pennies.

But all of the these changes would only be good if the people who run the government would be an example. Support the construction of the MRT systems and connection throught the LRT so every location has 1. This would cut off the pollution as well as traffic. Have the waiting period for the next train in the MRT & LRT be 2 minutes at least not 10 minutes. If the government in HK & Singapore can fix their transport systen like this, then why can' the Philippines. I've been going to HK almost all my life I can see the improvement they done over the course of 20 years.

dark angel 16

Traffics, Pollution and Crime are the result of overpopulation...
if we can control population growth, it will be easier for us to solve traffics, pollutions and crimes...

`â™¥â€¢Debbie the PINAY`â™¥â€¢

it's great because of it's historic places like Luneta Park and the friendly people. We can make it better if we get rid of slum areas, make the traffic situation better and improve our waste management.

â„¦ allan y

the people, culture and history makes it one of the great cities in asia. we have to improve on our infrastructure and discipline as a people. what happens in manila affects the nation as a whole. we still need one good leader with political will to be able to lead us to prosperity, free from graft and corruption that hinders our progress and development.

Johny

I don't think it will improve that much over the next few decades unless the government is rid of corruption.

Jhon Michael L

Manila is a great city in terms of commercial and cultural aspect. Aside from being the nation's capital city. Manila is a unique combination cross-country culture, it traces the culture of different race in our country from the Tagalogs who inhabited the city, they are also the Southerners and Northerners as well call it, "promdi." Manila is vibrant city with mixed foreign blood like the Chinese from Guandong province, Americans, Spanish aristocrats and Indians.The culture makes make Manila great and a hotpots of all races I personally think of.

As globalization goes on, Manila is suffering in major pollution. One way that we can topple this through a change in our self, no matter what the government implements best pollution control program, we can't even suffice it unless we change ourselves!

James B

i was there for 6 weeks and i had a great time there and i toured the city and it was very beautiful..plus i spent time in pasay city and angeles city. And i also proposed marriage to a very beautiful asian princess when i was there. I am hoping to make another trip there sometime next year to bring her back here to the United State. But your country is very beautiful

bg b

tisya@kawasaki, squatters are the consequence and not the cause.

causes could be corruption, malfeasance, lack of justice, see Estrada soap opera, overpopulation thank to the influence of the churches... just to name few.

don't hide you head under the sand.

Nicanor P

STOP CORRUPTION IN THE PHILS. GOVERNMENT AND CONCENTRATE OUR LOCAL GOV'T ABOUT WHAT IS BETTER FOR CITY OF MANILA TO IMPROVED ENVIRONMENT AND CULTURAL.

Khinz

That's right, in a country like this, discipline is very very important... Why? Because, Filipinos tend to be "pasaway"... They still do something even if they know that it is wrong.. Filipinos dont do anything but complain about the government's system.. Complaining about all this suffering isnt the answer to our nation's problem, we filipinos need to be united in bringing the Philippines up.. Neither changing the president nor any government official is not really the primary solution to all of this. It lies to all the filipino people. Sometimes I think that, "kamay na bakal na kelangan dito sa mga pasaway na mga pilipinong ito".. Let's take into consideration what happened to ERAP estrada, few years ago, all of the people in EDSA shouts "ERAP RESIGN!!!" it's all because of the rage of the people knowing that he plundered some of the money of the Filipino people... Until recently, after getting the guilty verdict, he was given a pardon... And most of the people I think are very happy about it, they forgot that this person plundered the money came from the taxes that we pay, there's no way he can be innocent just like what he verbalizes.. That Pardon is purely political, let;s say that its in the constitution that the president has absolute power of giving pardon, but taking into consideration the weight of the "SIN" of ERAP, he should be suffering in muntinlupa... That's where he should belong, he's acriminal.. But then, people asks for his freedom, asks for the freedom of the person that made their life miserable...

tranquil

Mind:
It has rare books collection dating as far back as the 1600's (University of Santo Tomas);

Visual:
It has magnificent sunsets, flora (Waling Waling/ Vanda sanderiana) and fauna (tarsier); impressive structures (Intramuros, Manila Central Post Office, Ayala Museum)

Audio:
Music is diverse from the classical players to the bands, from the indigenous culture's instruments (kumintang) to the home-made bottle caps used during Christmas caroling.

Gustatory:
Different cuisine in various countries can be found here. Fresh fish daily. Tropical fruits such a the durian, to the tamarind; coconut juice drank straight from a freshly-picked coconut.

Shopping:
Excellent deals to be had, with good after-sales service.

Culture:
Amalgamation of different cultures such as the Chinese (Chinatown), Spaniards, Americans. Very rich culture. A treasure that rewards those that persevere to understand it.

It has amazing world-class talents in the arts (to name a few: Juan Luna, Lea Salonga, Prima Ballerina Anna Bayle) and sciences (the nurses and doctors do well with limited resources; imagine what can be achieved if they are provided with more supplies and technology.); the dances such as the tinikling is copied and integrated by other asian countries (Thailand).

All of these treasures, and more, make Manila a great city. Mabuhay!* (*Long live!)

Inpeach

Manila is the melting pot of different cultures , race , people from all standing of life . Its the place where arts is throbbing , business is thriving , its the seat of government and most of all , Manila is the window to the country because the international airport where most foreigners have a first glimpse of what Philippines and Filipino is all about.

This makes Manila and those who populate it carries the heavy responsibility of showing the best part of being Filipino . Today , Manilan's fail in this aspect , reason ,most Manilan's lack love for its City as like in most of Filipinos , we lack love for our country .We don't need the skyscraper , the grand cultural centers , grand malls and all infrastructure to make Manila take on the great responsibility as a showcase to our country . What it needs are people who show its love for its city and country in its respect for its laws in terms of cleanliness , traffic , its children , and its government . When love thrives in any relationship be it to humans , city or country , or government then we could enforce all laws and follow all laws and everything progress .

fakebobjones

As cliched as it sounds, what makes Manila great is the people that live here. There are tons and tons of neighborhoods, each with its own feel.

However, at this point, serious steps need to be taken to maintain the historical features of the city. Everyday more and more old, classic dilapidated wooden homes are torn down for faceless townhouses.

In some ways, the greatest thing Manila has going for it is its potential. We need to:

1. Preserve the remaining classic structures & architecture (old homes, Army Navy Club, etc)

2. Preserve our environmental resources--especially Manila Bay

3. Create more pedestrian friendly areas. Part of the reason traffic is so bad is because the city is (for the most part) not very easy to navigate on foot. Air pollution & vendors notwithstanding, many of the sidewalks are non existent or in bad shape.

I think that an increase in tourism (and the money that tourism brings) is going to be the answer to many of the economic issues in the Philippines (not just Manila). Once we start to bring the shine back to the city, visitors will come as well. More visitors = more jobs, more jobs = less people forced to find work overseas.

I think that the city is on the up and up. There are many improvements and hopefully these will continue.

Martin C

1. Many things make it great but for me it is variety and GOOD music in MANY good venues.

How to make it better ?? Bring back Atienza as Mayor...then we get back Baywalk and so many other good projects

miduckies

manila city is great in terms of college and universities, the consortium of university belt wherein students from different cities and provinces can choose their university. another is, the manila is the capital city of the country and it's the center of the governmental authorities whereby the malacanang is located.

manila city is the capital of our country yet the fascinating gradeur of the said place is faded. firstly, it's lack of infrastructure, from roads and highways, to establishment buildings, to housings. secondly, it's lack of health facilities which is very important to every individual to insure their health. thirdly, the education from primary to secondary and lastly, the peace and security all over the place. crimes are vast in numbers, uncontrollabe and increasing.

it's very clear that the past local government of the manila concentrated mainly on the beautification of the city but unfortunately not vital to the public welfare of the people. yes, there are bay walk, restructured avenida st., and beautified lawton yet waste and management are very lax in disposing the garbages surrounding the taft avenue.

mainla city needs overhauling! this is a call for the chief executive of the manila city government.

the chief executive of the manila city government must be greatly capable enough to lead the city. first, insure the health of manila residents. allocate more percentage of budget to health. second, invite more local investors to establish businesses in the city which will be needing more employees so those unemployed people can have jobs. more housing programs where all the non-residents become occupants of these housing programs for free but they will work as a constructors, carpenters, or send some of them to another place where they can be farmers to fully use the skills of every individual.

the manila police and security agency must have and hold trainings to be more efficient and effective promoter of the public security and peace which is their main role in the country.

and of course, though without total elimination of corruption, prioritize all the required ultilities of the city and make it a 10 percent commiting of any kind of corruption.

Spark 47

Manila is a great city in the sense that life works. No matter what conditions the people have, they all thrives!. There also lives the dreams of other people in rural places to work here and have a prosperous life.One thing, you can see here different cultures that have grown throughut the years.

We can improve it if we all believe in the system. We ourselves are the reason why this government goes down. Let's start this on our own selves.

This is all what I can say. Our time must not be wasted by just fighting against our authorities. We must all fight against these problems.

Keenan A

MANILA ROCKS BECAUSE THE STREETS SMELL LIKE EVAPORATED PISS AND GARBAGE JUICE!!! YEAH!

Criesbet

Manila is not just a great city. It is a city of memories. Many people here are actually from different provinces in the Philippines. It means, it is the place where professional filipinos meet. We need to be proud of it not because of the tall buildings in Makati or in Quezon city but because of the people who strive to work for their families. Manila is the workplace of what we called probinsyano.
Yes, we have many historical places here in Manila. But all of them is just for the sake of sight. For me, what makes it a great city is the people. no people, no place. No matter how good a place is, if people are suffering from their lives, it is meaningless. Therefore, the best way to improve our city is to help people learn the value of life. After that, everything will follow cleanliness, honesty, less crimes, less rape cases, etc.
we can change the system, if only we believe we can. Then, it is a great city. For just one simple reason; people live according to the principle of life not on their desires to be great.

hagio

Manila is such a unique city. It is historical and it should further be improved. My first suggestion is to restore the cleanliness of Manila since that's one of the major reason why most people don't take care of the place. Also, it is one of the reasons why tourists hesitate to visit Manila. My second suggestion is to encourage people who lives in Manila to take care of their respective areas since it is part of the whole grandeur of Manila.

Genaro Jr.

Other developed Asian Countries like Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia had to fend off aggressive pacing of modernization of their major cities at times to preserve historical places and landmarks. While Manila, given the development plans of its local government (though at a manageable pace) has quite maintained its historical look and value. It is a city where it stood the test of time from the Spanish-American War to World War 2 to Political Rallies.

Manila is a city where time was locked. It is rich in history and culture. In the 1930s to 1940s, our country the Philippines was named "Pearl of the Orient" and this was in fact in reference to Manila. The city thrived in the 1600s, 1800s, 1900s, 1940s to present, it was host and a home to many great heroes, artists and political figures from Jose Rizal to Gen. Douglas Mac Arthur to our Presidents. One can admire and be fascinated with its beauty by sightseeing. The famous Intramuros " the walled city", the City Hall Clock Tower where the local government hold its office, Roxas Blvd formerly called Dewey Blvd., Malate, Taft, Binondo, Espana St., Dimasalang, etc. these are living testimonies to its history seen by many generations.

Manila was and still is a great city and i agree with my fellow contributors that if only there is political will, discipline amongst its citizen and if only we could love our city more with our own heart then and only then we can only make preservation and development happen not in Manila alone but in our country as well.

gerry

Yeah, Manila is a great city. It has plenty of beautiful places only in places frequented by tourists but if you look on the inside part, Manila stinks. The problem lies on too much politicking of people in the government thus neglecting the basic essence in managing the affairs of the government. When you look around, you can see garbage all around, dirty market places, stinking roads, clog drainage and creeks does flooding the areas even on slight heavy rains. The problems lies in the strict implemention of proper garbage disposal and undisciplined city dwellers who throws garbage on the roads, inside buses, etc. With regards to traffic congestion, there is nothing we can do to it, roads are too small and vehicles keeps on multiplying. There is a need to discipline some traffic enforcers who instead of keeping traffic flow smooth, they become an obstruction, instead of becoming the role model they become the blatant traffic violators. Most drivers needs training and discipline, like jeepney, taxi and bus drivers who load and unload passengers as they pleases. Also, what's lacking is the foresight in planning the city development, build more roads and lessen corruption in the lower and upper echelon of people running the city. On the overpopulation, the problem lies in the implementation and information dissimination of population control. On the crime control, what the government needs is create more jobs. When people are hungry they are force to commit crime (small and serious crime). There are those who resort to sidewalk vending but are also apprehended and their products confiscated pushing them to commit serious crimes. There are those who commit petty crimes like theft, hold up, snatching, robbery, drug peddling, etc. all because they have no job and are hungry. There are those who commit bigger crime, like piracy, carnapping, truckjacking, smuggling, and many more. Creating more jobs means inviting more investors. But doing business with the government is tidious and expensive process. You will be required to tour the entire government bureaucracy, you have to go to the BIR, DTI, SSS, Philhealth, Pag-ibig, Business permit, etc. If the the government is sincere in creating more jobs by way of enticing more investors, the government needs to create a one-stop window where a prospect investor could get all what he needs in putting up a business after paying the required fees. But the requirement of touring the entire government bureacracy is being required for a different purpose and that is to require prospect businessman to give extra money other than the normal fees, otherwise, if he don't come out, he will be given a run a round and his suffering continouos. These are all negative comments but there also a lot of positive results which would required more time and space to enumerate.

Bato

Just improve the Government and everything else will follow.

Berto

Manila is great city no more, it's so polluted and stinky, everywhere. As commented by one broadsheet comics "Dapat siguro linisin muna natin ang Maynila" bago "Buhayin natin ang Maynila." Everytime I visit Manila from province I got this experience of inhaling velching smoke everywhere in the city that I need to clean my nose afterwards. The bay also is so stinky, they never mind cleaning it on ordinary days, only when a strong typhoon hit the city. But I think the people of the city is now on the right track with their current mayor, Alfredo Lim, a very good leader.

MICHELLE R

Manila is great a city due to its historical significance. It is the seat of the government and economy. Not too many people realize that what happens in Manila affects the whole country. To further improve it, we must start by imposing discipline on the populace. As they say, one must start with himself before reaching out to others. We Filipinos have a lot to be proud of and should not resort to copying other cultures. True, in this age of globalization, we must cooperate with other nations to advance as a nation but we must never lose sight of who we are and where we came from.

Veronica C

it is because of the people that would make a city great. pinoys have great minds to think about great things, but lack the will to make great things "happen". they'd rather spend & waste a lot of time speculating the problems that beseige the nation instead of finding solutions and doing something about the problem! and MEDIA being an active participant in this process! the news one week ago is still being discussed on air & wasting the time of public officials having unnecessary interviews and lot of grandstanding in the government! it serves nothing to the pobreng juan dela cruz!

Luis Besa

"DISCIPLINE is the most important factor!"

tisya

one big step would be getting rid of the squatters everywhere.they contribute building traffics,unsanitized waste disposal thus result to flash floods within the city .permanent solutions are needed not politicians co terminus solutions.i love the city this is where we spend our family shoppings,treats and recreational....

Glen B

Wake up Pinas, most of the income are coming from overseas. To increase hundred times is to get rid of the traffic caused by jeepneys, busses and tricycles. Send the squatters back to their provinces and create jobs where you can utilize their skills. Instead creating jobs in the city, move to the provinces. Workers will be more likely to be productive and healthier. Aside, crime will be diminished and Tourism will soar high if these awfully unwanted sceneries are eliminated.

Can the government add highways (4 lanes) not two lanes going to provinces? I've left Pinas 40 years ago and went back with the same biways. No improvement at all. A 4 hour drive took me 11 hours due to tricycles monopolized these narrow so called "highways......or backroads".

How about building train tracks, stations and trains(Supersonic trains) going to provinces? Just a suggestion!!!

joinah

Hi to all-
Manila's greatness can only be seen by those who have the money and time to explore the area. Unfortunately, a lot of people fail to do, see and enjoy all the greatness around them because of "kahirapan". They get so focused on thier everyday survival that even the good things they could get for free doesn't matter to them anymore, like the parks and museums(hope they're free).
It's hard to appreciate the good things you don't own. Worse, things you cannot experience and enjoy.
But poverty is a choice and over population and pollution is a personal responsibility. If more people will be aware of their share and part in the society, any place can be great for everyone to enjoy, especially the children.
"We are the government". We got the power and we always misuse it by voting the wrong people to work for us-The people.
We only got ourselves to blame and that's another responsibility to take.

Lesley Ali

Being born and raise here in manila I say it would be the diversity of the people which makes up the city, the culture the historic places, these things make manila a great city and it's great to be here.The sad thing thou is that some people who have the authority just forget what they were meant to do with the power given to them, change isn't bad but manila definitely needs a helping hand from those who want it to be the way it was, when my mom and dad were young..Those were the days of Manila..= ) peace out.

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