Aviation History Made in Manila

While walking around the grounds of the Quirino Grandstand in Manila one afternoon back in 1994, I chanced upon a small commemorative marker that was located near the water, specifically in that part of Manila Bay where there's a small pier situated between the said grandstand and the Manila Hotel.

The marker commemorated the landing of the China Clipper seaplane on the waters of Manila Bay on November 29, 1935. The landing marked the conclusion of the first trans-Pacific flight that began in the City of Alameda near San Francisco, California on November 22, 1935. This flight marked the beginning of regular airmail service between the United States and the Philippines. It was not a non-stop flight for along the way to Manila, the plane made stops at Honolulu, Midway, Wake Island and Guam. (Source: www.flyingclippers.com)

Prior to my "discovery" of that marker, I absolutely had no idea that the Philippines had figured in the making of aviation history. That moment was the first time I heard of such a thing and the marker certainly piqued my interest in the event. I later went to a library and did some research just to satisfy my curiosity about it.

That was pretty much it for years until early this afternoon when, to my very pleasant surprise, I chanced upon a newsreel that reported on this particular event back in 1935 while going through YouTube's video archives. The following newsreel produced by Fox Movietone News reported on the successful landing of the China Clipper at Manila Bay.

Although video and sound clarity on the newsreel leaves much to be desired, we could see that a large crowd and quite a number of government dignitaries led by Philippine Commonwealth President Manual Luis Quezon (1878-1944) were on hand to welcome and congratulate the plane's crew.

We could also see an aerial view of what is the current site of the Quirino Grandstand (then known as the Luneta Grandstand) and the Luneta Park itself prior to the plane's water landing.

What could be historically significant about this newsreel is that the viewer gets to hear President Manuel L. Quezon's voice maybe for the first time through a brief congratulatory speech he gave to the crew of the China Clipper led by Captain Edwin Musick, Pan American Airways' ("Pan Am") Chief Pilot at the time. For his part, we could see that Capt. Musick handed to President Quezon a letter from US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

We can also see standing right next to President Quezon a little boy smartly dressed in what appears to be a Naval Officer's uniform. It is probably safe to assume that the boy was President Quezon's son, Manuel L. Quezon, Jr. (1926-1998) who was nine years old at the time.

But trans-Pacific flights in those days were still in their infancy and often carried a lot of risks. Thus, it is to be sadly noted that a little over two years after this achievement, the China Clipper's pilot, Captain Edwin Musick, perished in an onboard plane explosion in January 1938 off the Pago-Pago (American Samoa) islands in the Pacific. His body was never found.

Another member of Capt. Musick's crew on this flight was Frederick J. ("Fred") Noonan, who served as the flight's Navigation Officer. He was one of the crew members who stood around President Quezon in the newsreel and based on this photo of him, I think he was the tall crew member (Mr. Noonan was said to be six feet tall) who stood second from the right of that particular footage.

At the time, Mr. Noonan was recognized as one of American aviation's best flight navigators and was a regular crew member on trans-Pacific flights. As a result, he had also spent a good deal of time in Manila from 1935 to 1937. Sadly, he will forever be remembered in aviation history as the flight navigator who was with the celebrated aviator Amelia Earhart when her plane, a Lockheed Electra, was lost in the waters of the South Pacific in 1937. To this day, no trace of them or their place has ever been found.

It's been 14 years since I last saw the marker that commemorated this flight. Given the passage of time and the changes that have taken place in its vicinity, I am no longer sure if that marker is still there. I certainly hope that that humble marker still sits on that spot so that it could continue to serve as a reminder that decades ago, our country was part of record-setting aviation history.

Humor Break

Now a word from late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel:

Hey, there was an interesting study released today which says people who live here in the State of California are less convinced that there is a God than the people of any other state in the country. On an unrelated note, more than 800 wildfires here in California are currently burning out of control.

A Beautiful City Gone Forever - Manila of the 1930s (Part 2)

This is the second of the two rare videos I wanted to share with you. This second video or "newsreel" as clips like this were called at the time was called "Manila, Queen City of the Pacific". It was made back in 1938 by a travel film producer named Andre de la Varre (1902-1989) as part of his "The Screen Traveler" series.

Back in the days before television, newsreels were shown in movie theaters as part of the "intermission", a term which refers to that short interval of time or break between showings of a particular movie.

For me personally, what stood out in this video clip was the grandeur and beauty of the old Jones Bridge and those of the Legislative and Post Office Buildings. All these beautiful buildings were designed by the great Filipino architect Juan Marcos de Guzman Arellano (or simply "Juan Arellano") along the neo-classic style. Mr. Arellano's involvement in these public projects was due to the fact that he worked for the then Bureau of Public Works from 1916 to 1935. Aside from the projects mentioned, he was also the architect behind other great Manila landmarks such as the Metropolitan Theater and the Rizal Memorial Stadium.

The original Jones bridge was completed in 1921. As can be seen from the video, the bridge had quite a bit of ornamentation, sculpted figures, and arches. The bridge was of such elegance that one could have easily mistaken it for a bridge somewhere in Old Europe.

Unfortunately, this Arellano masterpiece did not survive the Second World War. A cash-strapped and newly independent Philippine government replaced this elegant bridge with a rather plain-looking steel and concrete structure that remains in use to this day.

The Legislative Building (now known as the National Museum of the People) was completed in 1926 and the Philippine Post Office was completed in 1931. Both the Legislative Building and the Post Office Building suffered significant damage during the war. Unfortunately, although both these buildings were rebuilt after the war, limited government resources prevented the faithful reconstruction of these structures back to their former elegance and beauty.

One of the facts of daily travel that can also be observed was that people drove on the left side of the road (European style) back in those days. My guess is that this practice must have been a carryover from the Spanish era. It was only after the end of the Second World War did the Philippines switch to driving on the right side of the road American style.

Aside from the ubiquitous presence of calesas and caretelas (two-wheeled horse-drawn carriages), there were horse-drawn "buses" that may have been the precursor of today's jeepney. The number of passengers were quite limited and thus, as a mode of public transportation like the present day jeepney, it was quite inefficient.

If there were traffic lights in Manila at the time, this clip certainly did not show them. Instead, we see traffic directed by traffic policemen in "pith" style helmets. This helmet was also known as a "sun helmet" because it provided the wearer's head with ample protection from the sun's rays. As a result, this type of helmet was widely used in the tropics.

The Franciscan Church in Intramuros, sadly, was destroyed during the Liberation of Manila. On its former site now stands the Mapua Institute of Technology. There used to be seven major churches within the walls of Intramuros. However, out of those seven churches, only the San Agustin Church and the Manila Cathedral survived the war. The Manila Aquarium, also in Intramuros, opened in 1913 and was a popular tourist attraction at the time. It closed during the Second World War.

McKinley Square was the plaza in front of the Manila Cathedral. It is now called Plaza Roma and if you are standing at the plaza facing the Cathedral, on your left would be the ruins of the old and once beautiful Ayuntamiento Building. On your right would be the multi-storey Palacio del Gobernador.

Although it wasn't shown on the clip, the Ayuntamiento was once an administrative building used by the Spanish and American colonial governnments. It was also called the Marble Palace because it was said to be lavishly decorated and was the site of several balls or parties back in the day. Sadly, like the other structures mentioned above, the Ayuntamiento was also a victim of the Liberation of Manila. What remains are its ruins which the Central Bank of the Philippines uses as a parking garage and storage area.

Lastly, one can't help but be awed by the elegantly beautiful homes that lined Dewey Boulevard (now called Roxas Boulevard) in Manila's upscale Ermita district. Unfortunately, a lot of these homes would also suffer mightily from the war. Today, although a rather small number of them still exist, they are now mostly hidden behind high walls.

A lot more can be written about the people and places shown but that would require a rather lengthy blog entry. For now, let's simply enjoy this gem that takes us back to a time when our beloved city was one of Asia's most beautiful.

A Beautiful City Gone Forever - Manila of the 1930s (Part 1)

Just wanted to share one of a couple of rare videos that showcase our beloved City of Manila the way the city used to look back in the 1930s. Both videos are making the rounds of several blogs since they were "discovered" in YouTube's archives recently. What I'm going to do is present each video separately and add some bit of information I know on some of the topics discussed and/or presented.

This first video was part of the "Port O' Call" series produced by a William M. Pizor. Unfortunately, the introduction to the short film failed to show the year it was produced. But judging from the styling of the cars shown on the streets and the way the people dressed, the film must have been taken in the early 1930s at the latest. In addition, at the beginning of the video clip, it showed that the "Cinephone" sound system was used. This system was one of the early sound systems used at the dawn of the talking movies.

The clip showed Manila's then famous Pier 7 (part of Manila's South Harbor) and showed life in nearby Intramuros back in the day when businesses, government offices, and residents commingled within its thick walls. It showed how the Old Bilibid Prison looked and how it was run during those days and gave us a feel for the rather rustic character of the district of Tondo back in those days.

Pier 7 was part of Manila's South Harbor. Manila had, and still has two harbors namely, the Manila North Harbor and the Manila South Harbor. The North Harbor, with its even-numbered piers, is the domestic port that caters to coastwise cargo and passenger ships. The South Harbor with its odd-numbered piers, serves as the international gateway for shipping and trade. I'm not sure if Pier 7 is still in use or service because a review of South Harbor's current active piers do not include it on the list. Maybe the Pier has since been renamed but I can't vouch for that.

The clip also showed elements of the famous 31st Infantry Regiment performing some marching drills outside the walls of Intramuros. This regiment was part of the USAFFE's (United States Armed Forces in the Far East) Philippine Division. Troops of this regiment fought valiantly in the defense of Bataan and a majority of the men did not survive the Second World War.

The Bilibid Prison shown on the video referred to the Old Bilibid Prison on Oroquieta Street in Manila. This served as the country's national penitentiary until 1940 when the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa opened. After most of the prisoners were moved to the New Bilibid Prison, most of the Old Bilibid Prison complex was turned over to the city of Manila and subsequently became known as the Manila City Jail. The whole structure, now decrepit, badly in need of repair and surrounded by shanties, remains as the Capital's city jail.

Founded in 1778, the Hospicio de San Jose Orphanage's mission was to help the poor, disabled, and abandoned. This institution has occupied its current location at the Isla de Convalescencia right off of the Ayala Bridge in Quiapo, Manila since 1810.

My apologies but since I'm a non-smoker, I don't know a stitch about tobacco products. It was never a field of interest to me and thus, I could not share any information on the tobacco products presented on the video. To those of you who have any knowledge on the tobacco products shown, please do not hesitate to enlighten all of us.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed viewing this video. Although short, it succeeds in taking us back to a Manila lost forever to all of us.

Street Justice

The following video shows the scenes that need to be immediately played out at the offices of Don Sulpicio Lines (and in its backyard) against the people responsible for the latest ferry accident that claimed the lives of at least 700 of my countrymen.

Unfortunately, this tragic incident is not a first for this company. This is due to the fact that Don Sulpicio Lines was also the exact same company whose vessels figured in the following sinkings that had claimed the lives of thousands of passengers:

1) Dona Paz - 4,300 plus people dead (December 1987)
2) Dona Marilyn - 300 people dead (October 1988)
3) Princess of the Orient - 200 people dead (1998)

Thanks to an inept and hopelessly corrupt government, this company has managed to remain in operation in spite of its past transgressions. Thus, barring its permanent closure or any significant changes in the way it does its business, we should expect this company to kill more Filipinos in the coming years due to a profit-above-everything-else style of management.

Enough said.