Figure 1: Aerial Photo of Historical Center of Manila.

Original photo by Eugene Alvin Villar

Luneta (Rizal) Park

PUBLIC GARDENS

A Nations Garden
Both as a public space and as a cultural landscape (perhaps even a radical garden), Luneta Park in the
center of Manila is the Philippines national garden - its soils stained by the blood of its martyrs and its grasses
trampled by the millions that gather here for occasional religious and political events. From its colonial Spanish
origins to the countries independence and modern struggle for democracy, the park has undoubtedly been
forged as a major space in the political arena of the nation. Adjacent to the historical and touristic heart of the
city, the Intramuros, the Luneta has long served as a relief from the otherwise dense and chaotic city. Much
like Olmsteds Central Park in Manhattan, the park is a symbolic garden, a piece of urban nature and public
ground, a representation of the nations lush tropical heritage in an otherwise sprawling global city.
The park began with the construction of the Paseo de Luneta by the Spanish in 1820. As the marshes were
filled in and allowed to settled the grounds directly behind the waterfront were preserved as open auxiliary
space for the grand bandstand that was part of the Paseo (see Fig 3). The Spanish and mestizos, who mostly
lived within the Intramuros used the Paseo as a political space, using it frequently for public executions1.
As such the location of the park served a vital political-spatial purpose, that of an mediation between the
colonizers at the core and he subjects at the perimeter, the native Filipinos mostly living in more informal
Nate Wooten - LARP 540

15

villages around the perimeter of the city. Furthermore, during this period, the park
served as playground for the citys elite. The Paseo featured fountains and the grounds
that are now Rizal Park began to be appropriated for recreation with paths for walking2.
This dialectic between the park as a symbolic recreational space and apolitical space
continue to this day.
The political importance of the park in modern Philippine nation-state was cemented
with the public execution by fire squad of Jose Rizal in 18963. A middle class Filipino
Mestizo educated in Europe, Rizal returned to the Philippines only to be increasingly
troubled by the brutality and neglect of the Spanish Rule. A populist figure, Rizals
execution set off a firestorm that combined with the Spanish American war, led to
the end of Spanish Rule. Having helped expel the Spanish, the Americans inherited
the Philippines as a colony, and continued to use the grounds as a political and civic
space. In 1905, the leading American urban designer, Daniel Burnham was brought
to Manila to complete a new master plan for the City. Central to Burnhams Plan was
the expansion of the Paseo to the west forming the boundary of what is known today
as Luneta Park4. Additionally Burnhams brand of City Beautiful sought to further instill
the park as a civic and Nationalist space by planning a series of neoclassical buildings
to line the parks perimeter. Furthermore, the parks symmetrical design was centered
around a monument to the nations conceptual founder, Jose Rizal. Adjoining a large
obelisk and part of a long axis between the waterfront bandstand and a reflecting pool,
the similarity to Washington DCs National Mall or even Burnhams design for Grant
Park in Chicago are inevitable (see figure 4).
Burnhams intervention in Luneta is critical in the establishment of the park as the
Nations garden. By essentially binding the park to politics through infill of the park
with governmental buildings, the final arrangement of the Luneta was a lasting
legacy American democratic values. Though erected during a controversial period of
American colonialism, the continued use of the park for political protest is a testament
of the success of the integration of the park into the Filipino national story. This fact
is perhaps most literally symbolized by the construction of large public fountain that
features a scaled down relief map of the Philippines Islands (see figure 2 and 3).
Luneta Park in the Twenty-First Century.
Since full Independence from the Americans following World War II, the parks role
began to shift as the city grew exponentially and varying political regimes sought to
establish other political and economic centers around the city such as the attempt
by to build a new capital complex in the appropriately named Quezon City, northeast
of the historic Spanish core. As such today the parks governmental importance has
lessened, the parks governmental buildings having been converted to museums, a
Nate Wooten - LARP 540

Figure 2: Plan of Luneta Park as of 2014; drawing by author, 2014

While the large axial lawn of the park is still legible, the infill of various buildings,
gardens, and amusement grounds around the core have led to a diffusion of
programming and have largely separated the parks central public lawns from the
surrounding urban fabric.

Figure 3: Philippines Island Relief; photo by author, 2014

Bridges hovering just above the surface of the water allow visitors to transverse the
archipelago in just a few moments. Located at the eastern and main entrance of the
park, this folly sets the nationalistic agenda of Luneta upon entry. The Lapu-Lapu
statue, a monument to the indigenous Filipinos can be seen beyond.
16

national library, a planetarium, and perhaps most notably, the all important Department of tourism. The reprogramming of the parks buildings during the second half of the twentieth century can largely be seen as an
erosion of the parks civic use. As uneven development of the cities periphery has created new satellite cities
for the elite centered around mega-mall that has left the core of Manila largely hollowed out and it with it the
life of Luneta Park. Numerous visits by the author between January and April of 2014 revealed a landscape
redesigned for tourists. The wide boulevards, neoclassical facades, and symmetrical landscape features
designed in Burnhams City Beautiful aesthetic are well suited to photography. Compared to the 843 aces
of Manhattans Central Park, the 103 acres palm-lined lawns of the Luneta often feel surprisingly empty by
comparison(see figure 5). Compared to the social economic diversity of visitors found
in the citys malls and markets, Luneta was dominated by Caucasian tourists and busloads of Filipino children coming to visit the museums. While the intensity of the tropical
sun may be to blame in the parks daily inactivity, it should be noted that many of the
more heavily vegetated gardens around the parks perimeter are fenced off and require
an admission fee. Combined with the recent conversion of the reflecting pound into a
nightly light show, much of the governments planning and rehabilitation of the park
revolves around continuing to find ways to attract and amuse visitors5.
Yet the political role of Luneta Park has not been lost. Given the density and size of the
city Luneta remains the only large par /public space in the city. While the bustling malls
and shopping arcades of Makati, The Fort, and Ayala, may have removed the daily life
out of the park, these privatized spaces are antithetical to public assembly and free
speech. In moments of political turmoil, the people of Manila still turn to Luneta. The
park was integral as an organizing space during the People Power Revolution against
the Marcos dictatorship in 19866. More recently protests government corruption and
embezzlement led to ably titled Million People March in 2013. In addition to recent
political protests, the parks usage as a gathering space was pushed to its maximum.
On January 18th, the popular Pope Francis visited the predominantly Catholic nation
and hosted a public mass in Luneta Park. Drawing in an estimated 6-7 million people,
this massive public event shows the continued elasticity of the park as it balances its
role as a touristic national monument, a large park, and a cultural and political public
nexus.
Notes
1. Yotsumoto, Yukio. Does Tourism Help to Alleviate Poverty? - A Case of
Vendors in Rizal PArk in Manila Philippines. College of Asia Pacific Studies
Bulletin 89 (2007): 5-36. http://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/acd/re/k-rsc/hss/book/pdf/
no89_01.pdf. (p 10)
2. Ibid. (p 11)
3. Ibid (p 12)
4. Diego, Jim. Daniel Burnham and The City of Manila, 1905: The City Beautiful
in a Tropicl. Urban Review 9, no. 16 (2012): 6-8. http://www.hunteruap.org/wpcontent/uploads/2012/01/Urban-Review_Spring-2011.pdf. (p 7)
Nate Wooten - LARP 540

Figure 4: Philippines Island Relief; photo by author, 2014

various horizons of each soil sample as well as the distance travel by each sample
and their cumulative travel.

Figure 5: Philippines Island Relief; photo by author, 2014

various horizons of each soil sample as well as the distance travel by each sample
and their cumulative travel.

Figure 6: Philippines Island Relief; photo by PAF-PIO/EPA, 2014.

Diagram showing the various horizons of each soil sample as well as the distance
travel by each sample and their cumulative travel.
17

5. Tanquilut, Lawrence. PR Plan on Rizal Park. Scribd. July 1, 2013. http://www.

scribd.com/doc/152224579/PR-Plan-on-Rizal-Park#scribd.6. Lateraloffice.com,.
6. Cruz-del Rosario, Teresita. From Execution to E-Mobilization: Luneta Park as
Dramaturgical Protest Space.
Figures
Fig 1. Drawing edited by author. Image Source: http://s331.photobucket.com/user/
seav/media/intramuros_aerial.jpg.html
Fig. 2. Drawing by Author, 2014
Fig 3. Photo by Author, 2014
Fig 4. Photo by Author, 2014
Fig5. Photo by Author, 2014
Fig6. Photo by PAF-PIO/EPA. Image Source: http://www.rappler.com/specials/
pope-francis-ph/81229-pope-francis-mass-luneta-rizal-park
Fig7. Map Comparison By author. Image Sources: http://upload.wikimedia.org/
wikipedia/en/4/49/BurnhamPlanOf-Manila.jpg; http://www.gov.ph/rizal-monument/
img/1-spanish-times/2.jpg

Figure 7: Grounds of Luneta Park; Map comparison by author, 2015.

Nate Wooten - LARP 540

18