A market-able President: Is P-Noy the new 'Mr. Palengke?'

It wasn’t election time, and President Noynoy Aquino was already going to market. Markets are magnets for politicians during election season because they are as rich in votes as they are in tomatoes. Markets throb with the pulse of the people. But they are largely ignored or visited by the victors after the elections.

But because the revival of the Paco Market was significant to the goals of his administration, and because he wanted to pay tribute to Rustan’s patriarch Ambassador Bienvenido Tantoco Sr. on his 90th birthday, President Aquino went to the heart of the Paco Market, a market by any other name despite its sprucing up. P-Noy graced the inauguration of the Rustan’s Wing of the market, a specialty dry-goods section that has, among other features, toilets fit for a Makati mall.

The old Paco Market when it was first built in 1911.

Vendors, children, tricycle drivers lined the narrow streets leading to the market to see P-Noy under the midday sun. If anything, Noynoy Aquino loves crowds. He once said that he draws strength from seeing people eager to shake his hand or even just have a glimpse of him. During his visit to Paco, P-Noy stood at the step-board of his Land Cruiser to wave at the crowds.

If security permits, the President will even consent to many photo-ops. A lady or two will even manage to squeeze in a kiss.

(After his photo op with the Paco Vendors Association, many of them women, P-Noy was seen wiping off some red lipstick marks from his left cheek with Kleenex.)

During the program, emcee Tina Monzon-Palma quipped: “Maybe your future first lady will go to market here someday.” P-Noy’s official residence, Bahay Pangarap, is not far from the Paco Market.

P-Noy replied good-humoredly that his future first lady may not go to market at Paco, but she will surely go eat there, in its “paluto” section, similar to a hawkers’ food market.

In fact, you can take a shortcut through Paco Market to Malacañang. Gina Lopez, managing director of the ABS-CBN Foundation and project director of Kapit Bisig Para Sa Ilog Pasig (KBPIP), a movement that aims to restore the Pasig River to its former glory, said the whole cleanup project would also benefit the President directly, as Bahay Pangarap and Malacañang Palace both overlook the Pasig River. Gina promised the President she will do all she can to rehabilitate the Pasig within his term.

Zenaida R. Tantoco, president of Rustan Commercial Corp., said Rustan’s was happy to participate in the revival of the Paco Market — for both patriotic and sentimental reasons.

Paco Market in its state of decay before the redevelopment project.

 “We are grateful for the invitation of ABS-CBN Foundation’s Gina Lopez to participate in the project. It was serendipity when Gina Lopez approached us to participate in this project because our first store was located in San Marcelino — just a few blocks away from Paco Market. Taking into consideration that sentimental attachment which the Rustan Group of Companies has to that area, and ever conscious of our corporate social responsibilities, we readily extended our help and support.”   

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Built during the American Colonial Period in 1911, Paco Market was once a landmark structure along the Pasig River. Beaming with the Mission Revival style of architecture as designed by Willliam Parsons, it was initially planned for commerce with waste and water management as a priority.

 Unfortunately, over the decades the structure was neglected. Trash and shanties built up along the Estero de Paco, one of the 47 esteros that feed into the Pasig, and became one of the main sources of pollution for the once-pristine river. Paco Market, which once flagrantly dumped its trash into the esteros, has sadly come to be one of the biggest contributors to the pollution that plagues the Pasig River.

 “Kapit Bisig Para Sa Ilog Pasig” has — as a first step — made the rehabilitation of Paco Market one of its flagship projects, seeing that it is vital to urban renewal and sustainability.

 According to Nedy Tantoco, “Rustan is reaching out to grassroots retail. We are striving to impart and share the characteristics that have been embodied by my father to the Rustan Group of Companies: Customer Service, Timeliness, Cleanliness and Perseverance.”

While this year signals the centennial of Paco Market, it also holds special meaning for Ambassador Tantoco, the co-founder of the Rustan Group of Companies, as he celebrates his 90th birthday. Grateful for his blessings, Ambassador Tantoco is driven by a desire to share his blessings with the community and the vendors of Paco Market. This was manifested through the restoration and rehabilitation of the so called “Rustan’s wing” of the Paco Market, officially referred to as Specialty Goods Section, which was the first part to be reconstructed and finished in time for the celebration of his birthday, and which was inaugurated with President Aquino as guest of honor.

A perspective of the Paco Market redevelopment project.

The Paco Market Redevelopment was designed by Maja Olivares-Co of Sonia Santiago Olivares and Associates (SSO.a) who partnered with KBPIP as one of the private organizations committed to the project, like Rustan’s. The newest addition of the redevelopment is the so called “Rustan’s Wing,” the first wing that you enter from Pedro Gil St.

This new wing, donated by the Rustan Group of Companies and dedicated to its patriarch Ambassador Bienvenido Tantoco Sr. and his late wife Gliceria, will house one-of-a-kind merchandise including products made from waste and recycled materials, specialty items and other special hand crafted items that hope to cater to the tourist market as well as the local community. Some of these handcrafted products will come from former Paco residents who have relocated to Calauan.

With Rustan’s at the heart of Paco Market, can progress and a clean shopping environment be far behind?

(You may e-mail me at mailto:joanneraeramire[email protected])