C O M PA S S
Clockwise, from left: The Cultural Center
of the Philippines is the official home
of culture and the arts in the country.
Aside from regular performances by the
Philippine Ballet Theatre and Tanghalang
Pilipino, CCP is the main site for the annual
Cinemalaya Film Festival, which has seen a
boom in public support in recent years. The
complex was designed by Leandro Locsin;
The Philippine International Convention
Center, Asia's first international convention
center; The CCP Theater fountain only
operates during special events; City
skyline from the CCP complex grounds;
Harrison Plaza is a time capsule. Other
than what’s sold, not much has changed
in the first airconditioned mall, and
there’s something both sad yet strangely
comforting about it.
Vito Cruz
Do you know who Vito Cruz was? Few people do. He was Hermógenes Vito-
Cruz, a mayor of the 19th century city of Pineda (now Pasay). The street is now
called Pablo Ocampo, after a Filipino statesman who served in the Spanish-
American transition, but the name of the station stuck. Today, a fresh take on art is
brought to the area by the students of the DLSU-College of Saint Benilde. In 2008,
Benilde opened Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD), a space for
its students and other artists to showcase their work to the public. A jeepney ride
from outside De La Salle University, the bigger unit of which CSB belongs to,
will take you to Harrison Plaza (the oldest major shopping mall in Manila) and the
Cultural Center of the Philippines.
p ho t ogr a p h y Patrick Kasingsing
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