AMBASSADOR RIVERFRONT HOTEL

Ninoy Aquino Park and Wildlife
March 15, 2009

Me and a couple of photo buddies went to the Ninoy Aquino Park and Wildlife in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines last March 2009. We were itching for a photo shoot since we have not had the time to shoot, nor the chance (rainy season). The particular Sunday was set and all 3 of us were available. The sky was overcast but we decided to push through with the shoot.

Like many parks in the Philippines, the Ninoy Aquino Park and Wildlife had promise, but lacked the maintenance and the infrastructure. The parking lot was decent enough and charged a very small fee. The entrance fee was also quite cheap (something like USD 0.20/person) and is a good thing so that more people can enjoy the park. The trees were growing wild and the grass as well. The roads inside the park were subpar and even the lake was with some trash. There were areas where they kept various birds and animals in messy and unclean cages, explaining the “and wildlife” part of the name of the location.

Although it would not be easy to make good photos in overcast days, I have to say that the main reason we shot very little and produced only a few barely decent shots was not because of the overcast skies but because of the dismal situation that the park was in. We have been taught to make the most out of every shoot and situation and we did try our best. Post processing and artsy shots can only get you so far.

I am saddened at how many of our public facilities such as these parks have slowly and surely deteriorated. I am even more saddened that many people still visit these parks to have their picnics and just hang around which means that the other options are probably worst (staying at home or in their neighborhoods) or more expensive (the malls). A park is in theory a good place to go to inside a city rather than always staying inside a mall; unfortunately the state that most of our nature parks are in prove otherwise.

I hope to visit again one day when the park (all 80 hectares of it) has been restored to a better state that can serve the citizens better. Come to think of it, the park is a small example of how the Philippines as a whole has deteriorated. I hope to see the Philippines in a better state as well. Let us all hope to live long enough to see progress rather than the continued deterioration.

The late Sen. Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, the murdered husband of Corazon "Cory" Aquino who became the 11th and first woman president of the Philippines, grew up in this house in Barangay San Jose, Concepcion, Tarlac.

Nikon D40 (FPOP Anniversary Committee Meeting, April 2009)