The Old Neighborhood

Last Sunday afternoon my brother and I joined a walking tour of the San Miguel district sponsored by the Heritage Conservation Society and the Museum Foundation of the Philippines. San Miguel is where Malacañang is, as well as many lovely old houses and churches. It holds special meaning for me, because it is where I grew up, where our family residence used to be, a lovely old compound that is now decrepit and part of a nearby school.

Our tour started at the famous–or infamous–Goldenberg Mansion on Gen. Solano Street just before the gated portion of the Malacañang grounds. Its interesting history as rest house of a moneyed family, as one-time residence of Arthur MacArthur (father of Douglas "I shall return" MacArthur) and even as shampoo factory (for Helene Curtis egg shampoo, revealed MFP president Maribel Ongpin) pales in the face of its more recent history as the living quarters of George Hamilton, Doris Duke, former Canadian Premier Pierre Trudeau, Hawaii Governor George Ariyoshi and other jetset playmates of the Imeldific (Christina Ford stayed in the equally opulent mansion next door). The house is lovely in the style of a bygone era, the foot-wide wooden floor planks sent many in our 50-plus group of curious locals and expats oohing and ahhing. The interiors of both houses, featuring antiques and objets d’art from different countries and eras, are, someone rightly commented, "very Imeldific."

We got a quick look at Machuca tiles, the tiles of everyone’s old house, and the San Miguel church. We broke for a most delicious merienda at the old Legarda house,which is now Cocina de Tita Moning (their bread pudding and queso de bola spread are ten million calories–but worth every calorie!) and got a close look at what genteel living is all about. The tour ended in a drizzle as we took shelter in the San Beda Chapel, a.k.a. Abbey of Our Lady of Monserrat, with the wonderful, mischievous and most knowledgeable Fr. Bobby Perez as our guide. It was a bonus that we got there just in time for vespers, as the Benedictine monks sang their evening prayers in what is surely one of the most beautiful churches around.

The Heritage Society has walking tours of the Escolta and Intramuros as well; call them at 521-2239 for schedules. More locals should take these tours to gain a better sense of our city and our history, and get a glimpse of when the city was not garbage piles and monstrous malls, when it was a home we could be proud of and love.