On the way home riding the MRT, I’ve noticed that the long-vacant lot owned by National Bookstore beside the intersection of EDSA and Aurora Boulevard in Cubao had been dug out and is now being developed by Filinvest Land. I’ve always looked forward seeing that enclosed patch of green grass with the “THIS PROPERTY IS NOT FOR SALE –National Bookstore” sign with that single run-down makeshift home for whoever was guarding the place against trespassers or illegal settlers. I liked how fresh the green grass looked contrasted with the concrete gray and dirty asphalt complexion of Cubao whenever it rained in the city; like a paradise hidden within the rusty (or maybe it was just painted red which has since faded) corrugated galvanised iron walls.
I’ve always thought it would be SMDC who would win the race to buy the empty lot since a number of recent developments along the avenue from Pasay to Quezon City, mostly high-rise condominiums and malls, belong to the company. Perhaps EDSA could even be renamed Sy Avenue in the far future. FLI wins this round, though.
It seems the only remaining piece of undeveloped green I can look forward to now is the steep cliff near Ortigas, in front of the POEA. Even from the train, I still can’t see how far down it goes, only that there are a lot of trees and there are some bent and torn metal stairs that run along the face of the rock. It sounds like a great adventure going down, one which I’ll probably never undertake because of the NO ENTRY sign and I’m not really on the buyer’s list.
It’s a sad end for an era.
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It’s interesting to note how the business district and exclusive villages of Ortigas is separated from the impoverished neighborhood slums of Cubao by the General Headquarters of the AFP located along Santolan. It’s the status quo pyramid exemplified in a linear approach: the masses, the military, the wealthy.
Is the social structure of the pyramid really as rigid as we think or is it as fragile as the green grass uprooted from the earth in Cubao, where it has stood for many years?
