Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
MANILA ERMITA AND MALATE
Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP)
Pedro Bukaneg (off Roxas Blvd) • Tues-Sun 10am-6pm • Free; Museo ng Kalinangang Pilipino P40 • T 02 833 2125, W culturalcenter.gov.ph •
LRT to Vito Cruz, then a CCP orange-coloured jeepney from Taft Ave and Pablo Ocampo St
The monumental Cultural Center of the Philippines was one of Imelda Marcos's
grand plans for bringing world-class arts to the Philippines. Conceived during the
early, promising years of her husband's presidency and opened on a night of great
splendour in 1966, it's a slab-like construction typical of those built on Imelda's
orders when she was suffering from her so-called “edifice complex”. Various
productions by Ballet Philippines (see p.97) and Broadway-style musicals are staged
in the Main Theater , and there is a decent contemporary art gallery on the third
floor (free), showing temporary exhibits from Filipino artists. Upstairs on the fourth
floor the Museo ng Kalinangang Pilipino holds small but engaging temporary
exhibitions on various aspects of Filipino native cultures, as well as housing the
permanent Asian traditional musical instruments collection.
The CCP also encompasses several other properties beyond the main complex,
further along Pedro Bukaneg, such as the Folk Arts Theater , which is the venue for
occasional pop concerts, jazz and drama (see p.97), and the Manila Film Center
(see box below). Note that ferries to the island of Corregidor (see p.104) leave from
near the CCP.
1
The Coconut Palace
F. Ma. Guerrero St, next to CCP • Tours Tues-Thurs at 9am, 10.30am & 2pm; free; reserve in advance at T 02 832 6791 or E drcomia@ovp
.gov.ph • No sandals or shorts allowed
Built between 1978 and 1981 on the orders of Imelda Marcos for the visit of Pope
John Paul II, the Coconut Palace is one of Manila's more bizarre monuments, an
outrageous but strangely compelling edifice, seventy percent of it constructed from
coconut materials. he pope rightly gave Imelda short shrift when he arrived, saying he
wouldn't stay in such an egregious establishment while there was so much poverty on
the streets of Manila, and suggested she spend taxpayers' money (the equivalent of
some P37 million) more wisely. In 2011 the palace became the residence and of ce of
the Vice President , but can be viewed on guided tours.
THE MANILA FILM CENTER
If bricks could talk, those at the Manila Film Center would have a sinister story to tell. Back in
the 1970s, Imelda Marcos wanted to stage an annual film festival that would rival Cannes
and put Manila on the international cultural map. But the centre she commissioned for the
purpose was jerry-built and a floor collapsed in 1981, allegedly burying workers under rubble
and killing many. No one knows exactly how many (some claim around 170) because most
were poor labourers from the provinces and records were not kept of their names. Police were
told to throw a cordon round the building so the press couldn't get to it, and work continued
round the clock. The centre was completed in 1982, some say with dead workers still
entombed inside, in time for the opening night of the Manila International Film Festival.
Imelda celebrated by walking onto the stage to greet the audience in a black and emerald
green terno (a formal gown) thick with layer upon layer of peacock feathers that were shipped
specially from India.
The centre staged just one more film festival - some say it was haunted and Imelda herself
had it exorcized - and it soon had to make ends meet by showing soft-porn ( bomba ) films for
the masses. It was briefly rehabilitated in the late 1980s when it was used as a centre for
experimental filmmaking, but after an earthquake hit Manila in 1990 it was abandoned. In
2001 it was partially renovated and now hosts transvestite song and dance extravaganzas
dubbed the “Amazing Show” (see p.97).
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP KALESA P.72 ; SAN AGUSTIN CHURCH P.62 ; BINONDO P.72 >
 
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