thezenofgen:

I took these pictures while inside a jeepney and while standing on an overpass. 

I really wish I could explore manila more. I wish I could get out of the hiker’s trail through the mall, and just find the small family businesses, them holes in the walls. We need to put more value in our city. 

Manila has a spirit I cant explain, A texture I cant find anywhere else. It’s beautiful. It’s fighting so hard to be beautiful, with all its history and secrets. Its a hidden sublime kind of beauty. 

I recently came from a trip from Singapore, and I would feel a pang of jealousy because its so nice and clean. people actually walk the streets, rather than brisk through it in fear of being mugged or catching the smell. When I commute around manila, I see people just not giving a shit about it. littering, spitting, overlooking. This is supposed to be our home.  

I feel sad that Manila is sick. I really do. I wish we had better public places, not just gated communities that divide. We were once a great city, I wish we just took better care of it. I dream of a Manila wherein Public development and welfare are just as valued as private enterprise. Thats why we’re sick. Because we’ve lost sight of what it means to be a community. 

I love hearing old stories and seeing old pictures of how Manila used to be. Hopefully when our generation gets the chance to run it, we can realize that its possible, thats its been done, that its worth not giving up on. little by little, slow and steady. We just need to realign our priorities. then maybe things will be different.