WHERE THE HAPPY CROWDS ARE: THAT IS RIZAL PARK

Fifty-three hectares of goodwill

RIZAL PARK has blossomed into a radiant fulfillment of what the Filipino hero himself might have dreamt: a project realized through the awakened and concerted efforts of the people, and without government aid.

Just as famous as the man after whom it is named, the park’s ownership is equally shared by the rich and the poor alike, and it is in this sense of belonging and common pride that the park can be a living symbol of the people’s unity and aspiration. It is not just a beautiful park, it is Philippine history captured from the past and preserved for all to see, read and enjoy.

Never before have concerts, fashion shows, ballets, and other cultural offerings, all of high quality, been brought within the peoples’ reach, as it is now made available to them at Rizal Park. Likewise a symbol of the continuity of purpose, the park is an edifice wherein each administration has put in a stone evidencing its belief in and support for the project from the far-seeing administration who marked out the reserved area and resisted attempts to reduce its size, to President Quirino who initiated the construction of the grandstand to President Macapagal who laid the more concrete plans for its modernization, and now to President Marcos and Mayor Antonio J. Villegas who gave official support to plans that have metamorphosed the park into a thing of matchless beauty.

Not only is the Luneta or Rizal Park made historic by the execution of Dr. Jose Rizal (on the spot where a marker has been set by the Historical Commission on the Luneta) but Presidents have taken their oaths of office in the huge plaza to do justice to every man—the children, the blind, and the handicapped and the rich or the poor, all of whom are the favorite visitors of the park.

Any important personality visiting Manila gets his first glimpse into the history if the country by visiting the Park and making a floral offering and looking around the historical spots that dot the area, all marking great epochs in Philippine history. The international outlook of the place is accentuated by the pavilions and gardens which foreign countries have built in chosen places.

What used to be a danger area, being the scene of crimes from murder to rape, Luneta now is one of the cleanest parks in the world, the safest place next to your home. It has become a shining glory and a singular pride of the Filipino people.

For those who last visited the place 10 years ago. Luneta is now entirely a new world. The area  for a long time had been bare and unkept, with the monument of Rizal and the grandstand neglected. At night, the whole place had been shrouded in complete darkness except for some scattered lights. For many years it had been an eyesore in the middle of the city.

In the latter part of 1962, there was an attempt to improve the place by modernizing the monument of Rizal. A pylon was added to make the statue look tall which Manila Times columnist Teodoro F. Valencia, a constructive critic, bitterly attacked in his column. Teodoro F. Valencia asserted that the monument must not be modernized saying that “you clean a monument and landscape the surrounding area but you never change a monument because it’s a work or art". --- By Mory Q. Sison