Many of this blog’s visitors are outside the Philippines, accessing the blog perhaps as a way to touch base with a place they perhaps used to visit or call home. This blog entry is dedicated to their — and our — early memories of this place.

People living in this part of Quezon City up to the mid-1980s will remember Commonwealth — then Don Mariano Marcos Avenue — very differently from what it is like now. Then, it was a dusty, two-lane asphalt road that seemed to have been carved straight out of the earth, what with the rich, red of clay showing in unpaved sections of the road. Traffic was still very manageable — so there were no pedestrian overpasses and no Tandang Sora flyover. Cars and jeeps still drove in straight lines, and pedestrians could count on crossing the street without fear of being run over.

At the time, anything farther north from UP Diliman was no man’s land. That’s how that old joke about Fairview actually being “Far-view” must have come about. In fact, I’ve met a number of people for whom driving or commuting by jeep to this area back then was a experience they described as “nakakatakot” (scary) because of how far from “civilization” and from all things familiar this place was. With very few buildings and commercial establishments in the area, there were hardly any landmarks to guide visitors. The upside to this, of course, were unobstructed views of the mountains during the day, and clear, starry skies at night. And plenty of fresh, clean air to go around.

The stretch of road from Commonwealth to Ever alone has changed so noticeably since those days. For one thing, the highway — for that’s what Commonwealth has become — is about 6 lanes in either direction, and road widening seems to take place every year. In place of stop lights, there are U-turn slots to ease the traffic. Pedestrian overpasses (footbridges, as the Metro Manila Development Authority, or MMDA, call them) keep pedestrians safe while keeping vehicular traffic flowing smoothly.

Buildings, gasoline stations, restaurants, and stores now line the highway. Perhaps because of such signs of progress, this part of Quezon City now seems not too far from anything. The only thing that might be “scary” about coming here is the speeding, swerving cars, jeeps, and buses.

(We hope to soon post a few photos to show how the area has changed. Unfortunately, I personally have no photos of the area from earlier years, so contributions are most welcome. If you have any photos of this part of Quezon City from 20 years ago or even more, please consider sharing them on this blog.)

Things have been quite busy in my part of the world the last few months. So today, while enjoying some down time, I surfed the Internet for information about the October 29 barangay/sangguniang kabataan elections.

I was very surprised to come across this article from Journal Online that names Barangay Holy Spirit as one of the “hotspots” for the upcoming elections. This, after I had blogged before the May elections that we would probably never be one — whether on the level of national or local elections.

Hopefully, the new barangay officials will be able to change the situation.

by Isabel

We’ve heard of the “Akyat-Bahay Gang,” the “Salisi Gang,” and more recently, the “Laptop Gang.”

We’ve heard and read horror stories in the papers or circulated through email of cellphones snatched, bags slashed, or homes broken into.

It is shocking enough to hear of such stories — more so if they happen to friends and neighbors.

These stories should make us more vigilant and more conscious about doing our share as good citizens to prevent such crimes — and to report them, in the unfortunate event that they do happen.

The Makati City Police have a number of videos available on their YouTube blog. Even if we’re not from Makati, it won’t hurt to watch these videos. They will help us become more aware of the different modus operandi and scams perpetrated by criminal elements.

Our very own Quezon City Police District has a website that contains, among other things, a directory of important numbers. These will be added to the “Contacts” section of this blog, but are also available below:

Quezon City Police District
Camp Maj Gen Tomas B Karingal
Sikatuna Village, Quezon City
Tel Nos: (02) 925 84 17 / (02) 920 13 78
Email : qcpd@pnp.gov.ph

Be safe!

by Isabel

A few weeks ago, we welcomed six Australian youth to Don Enrique Heights with a hearty breakfast at Our Lady of Remedies Chapel.

At the time, it wasn’t clear to me why they were here, but yesterday I had the chance to sit down with three of them — Lisa Campbell, Daniel Foster, and Samuel Burns — and get to know them a bit better.

I learned that they are all from the Asia-Pacific School of Evangelisation and that the purpose of their trip to Manila was “to work with youth and do social justice work.” One of the components of their trip was a few days’ stay at a Gawad Kalinga site in the Payatas area.

The photo below was taken at our first meeting, after coffee at Starbucks at the Convergys Building along Commonwealth Avenue. From bottom, left to right: Steph Pollard, Sam, Margie Templo, Lisa, me, Michael Campbell, Daniel, and Luke vanderLinden. Unable to join us that day were Les and Aida Roberts.

The APSE youth return to Australia today. We look forward to seeing them again soon.

by Isabel

In my post last week, I said that the repair of the gutter along Holy Spirit Drive had been completed. Apparently, only one phase of the work had been completed, as this time it is the right-most side (going towards Don Enrique Heights) being repaired.

Hopefully, the work gets finished soon.

by Isabel

The rainy season is upon us, and with it, cooler weather at last. But the rains when combined with road repair or construction can be a sure recipe for traffic — or worse, for accidents.

Luckily, our area is not bogged with road repair or construction at this time. At least, not anymore. The repair of the gutter along Holy Spirit Drive in Don Antonio Heights has been completed. This means no more bottlenecks on that stretch. And no swerving to avoid the damaged portion of the gutter — ultimately making it a safer drive home.

I may have just missed it, but I don’t recall seeing any signboard proclaiming whose “priority project” the repair was. If there really was none, I’m glad our officials are showing some maturity and just doing their jobs without fanfare or gimmickry.

Postscript: It’s good to be back. To those who have been viewing the blog during these two months, our apologies for the inactivity. We’ll try to keep the blog updated. Thank you!

by Isabel

When my sisters and I joined the DEH youth choir years ago, the choir was led by two brothers — Pip (who I recently learned has passed away, bless him) and Ikel Gadi.

The brothers told stories and made us laugh, but they both loved music and were talented musicians as well (Pip played the guitar and Ikel, the piano). They taught us songs and vocal arrangements, pushed us in our vocalization, and scolded us when we were lazy. Between Pip’s soft-spoken demeanor and Ikel’s stern nature, the choir slowly went from an out-of-tune (or tempo), rowdy, disorganized, bunch of kids to a group with a purpose: to fill the community with music at the upcoming fiesta. (We were still a bit rowdy, but at least we knew what we were doing, and why.)

The Gadis, who used to live just a few houses from us, have long since moved out. But sometimes I catch myself humming the songs they taught us, or I hear certain songs sung at Mass, and I am transported back to those younger, more carefree days.

Tomorrow (Saturday), the community’s musical tradition continues. If you want to help fill the community with music, head for Our Lady of Remedies Chapel for the DEH music ministry workshop at 1:30pm. It is expected to be a fun and rewarding way to spend the afternoon.

Voting in Barangay Holy Spirit was generally peaceful. Luckily this is not — and probably never will be — an election hotspot. Aside from the lack of monobloc chairs and ballot secrecy folders, everything seemed to be order.

In the Philippines, you can tell which building is a voting precinct because of the concentration of posters and streamers displayed like buntings. In the case of Barangay Holy Spirit, sample ballots littered the area leading to the barangay hall. Nothing new, really. But what was new — to me, at least — was the presence of a laptop at the information booth, where one volunteer was verifying names and precinct numbers.

May the best men and women for our community, our city, and ultimately, our nation win this year’s elections!

by Isabel

It’s looking a lot like fiesta season, but it’s not. It’s election season — nearing its frenzied end. What else would explain the posters and tarp banners of all colors, sizes, and shapes along Holy Spirit Drive?

With barely two weeks to go before the elections, do you know who your candidates are?

Until last week, I actually thought that incumbent Quezon City Mayor Sonny Belmonte was running unopposed. Thanks to this article in The Manila Times Internet Edition, I found out that there are three other candidates for mayor — Romeo Acebedo, Florian Alvarez, and Andy Rosales.

Similarly, Vice Mayor Herbert Bautista is being challenged by Rogelio Olesum and Roland Jota of the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan.

In District II, our district, Rep. Annie “Rosa” Susano is up against a QC former mayor — Jun Simon — and two former representatives — Dante Liban and Chuck Mathay.

According to the Manila Times report, our district — the largest in QC in both land area and population — has the most candidates for city councilor. Including the six councilors in office — Winnie Castelo, Aiko Melendez-Jickain, Ramon Medalla, Voltaire Godofredo “Bong” Liban III, Eric Medina, and Allan Francisco — there are 22 candidates all in all. Among them is Chito Valmocina, our incumbent barangay chairman.

I tried, but could not get the names of all the other candidates for city councilor. Hopefully, we can find out who they are before 14 May!

by Isabel

When you’re new to a place, sometimes you’ll need a map to find your way around. But when you’ve lived there for some time, you know the place well enough to have your own internal map. You’d know the shortcuts, for example. You’d also know that to get to where you want to go, you have to pass the house with the blue gate, or the one with the white car in the garage, or the big garden full of orchids. You’d know which stores would still be open by the time you get home from work. Or which place sells the sweetest mangoes or serves the best coffee.

These are not the details that you’d find on maps available in stores or even online. And some places — like DEH and the surrounding areas, for example — are just too small to have their own map.

This is exactly why Platial exists. Calling itself “The People’s Atlas,” Platial “enables anyone to find, create and use meaningful maps of Places that matter to them.” Their aim is to “connect people, neighborhoods, cities and countries through a citizen-driven common context that goes beyond geopolitical boundaries.”

The idea behind these personal maps or what has been called “neogeography” is very much related to “place blogging” (i.e. the map itself is your blog — but maybe this is for another blog post). So Our DEH Community now has its own little map (see the lower part of the sidebar, right side) that shows some landmarks recognizable to anyone living in DEH or other nearby subdivisions.

The map itself seems to be from about a year or more ago — missing are the newer houses in the community, the building beside St. Peter Parish, and that recently opened fast food branch in Isidora Hills. But it gives us a bird’s eye view of where we live and enables us to tag the places that are part of our daily lives.

How would you map the community?