As a young boy, when my mother would bring me to my grandparent’s house in Magdalena (now G. Masangkay Street) in Binondo, I was fascinated by the calesas (horse-drawn carriage) that proliferated the busy streets of Binondo.
The calesa is perhaps the oldest mode of transportation in Binondo
The music, of Chinese background and a rather slow Oriental beat, greets us each time we pass over the small bridge in Ongpin Street leading to the antique Binondo Church (now known as the Minor Basilica of San Lorenzo Ruiz).
Fascinating really because Binondo, as I learned later, had been an antique place that was existent even before Spanish times!
Chinese traders, coming from Mainland China, travel for months, bringing with them goods like silk, garments, among others to trade (through barter) with the natives living within our islands as far back as the 15th Century.
And Binondo occupied a significant spot in the history of the Philippines in many ways.
For one, long before Makati became the country’s financial capital, Binondo used to be the main center for business, finance and commerce in Manila for the Chinese, Chinese mestizos and Spanish Filipinos.
Insurance companies, banks and various financial institutions were housed within this busy district side of Manila, making it a center for trading and finances.
It was only after the Second World War, where Manila was terribly ravaged and destroyed that several Fil-Chinese businessmen began taking out their investments and bringing it to Makati, which was owned mostly by the Ayalas.
Today, though Makati has established itself as the finance capital of the country, and Taguig City fast becoming another financial hub, perhaps, Binondo could recapture its glory days and contribute once again to the growing number of financial districts in the Philippines.
How this could happen would be the subject of my next blog. Abangan!
Photo Source: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_A8NwD4itN2M/SZ57CNxXfWI/AAAAAAAAFTo/lcRmXuFTZ58/s640/kutsero.jpg