A forgotten statue in the plaza

I took my students to Fort San Pedro last year. On our way home, we passed through Plaza Independencia for an extended tour. Walking around the plaza, we came across an unlit statue in a quiet corner of the park. It was a statue of a man.

My students asked me who the man was but I didn’t know either. The marker was no help for it was almost entirely faded. But when I noticed that he was in barong tagalog, I looked up to his face and immediately knew that it was former President Ramon Magsaysay.

Most of us are familiar with the crash site memorial for Magsaysay in Mt. Manunggal. Many have joined the annual trek and camp out during his death anniversary: mountaineers or not, people have been climbing the mountain on foot or on wheels. But I never knew that he has a monument inside the plaza until then. 

Magsaysay’s death anniversary was again remembered last March 17, and trekkers went up to Manuggal last March 20 and 21. I wasn’t able to join the trek again because I couldn’t squeeze such activity into my budget but was still able to pay my respects, though, by visiting his statue at the plaza.Plaza Independencia is still closed for restoration. I walked along M.J. Cuenco Avenue and looked over the construction fence. Although the statue is visible from the outside, I wanted a closer look.

I slipped through an access gate on the other side. The place was empty except for two maintenance men whom I asked for permission; they obliged when I told them I was alone and only need to copy a statue’s marker for a school assignment.

Fallen leaves are scattered around the monument, but you can see that it was a special corner in the park. Its spot is elevated and is surrounded by a low fence. Two big trees on the sides give shade and cool the wind – making it a pleasant place to spend a late afternoon.

But people don’t go to parks anymore. Malls are much cooler and more entertaining to visit; and every weekend reveals crowded malls but vacant parks. People end up missing something - maybe the next time City Hall erects a monument, it should be inside a mall so that more people will see it.

The plaza is still closed. Magsaysay’s statue remained lonely during this year’s commemoration of his death anniversary. But if ever you pass along MJ Cuenco Avenue as you enter or exit SRP, look over to the plaza in that corner near the Malacañang sa Sugbo; that green statue with one hand shading his eyes and the other holding a native hat is Ramon Magsaysay – he used to be everybody’s guy.