Keep the name Del Monte Avenue

With due respect, we humbly present our objection to the bill presented by Sen. Lito Lapid proposing to change the name of Del Monte Avenue to FPJ Avenue. There is a great historical value to the name Del Monte Avenue since it refers to the very origins of Quezon City.

This name is derived from its full name San Francisco del Monte, a secluded place founded on Feb. 17, 1590 by Fray Pedro Bautista, a Franciscan missionary. The place has been referred to as San Francisco del Monte to honor St. Francis. Del Monte was added because it sits on a hilly area and to distinguish it from San Francisco de Manila, then the Franciscan Church in Intramuros.

It was Governor General De Vera who offered Fray Pedro Bautista (canonized a saint in 1862) 250 hectares of this area that included the old section of San Francisco del Monte on both sides of the Dario river. Today, the Minor Basilica of San Pedro Bautista stands in this place, founded and made holy by this patron saint who actually lived and served here.

The profound religious significance lies in the fact that the first Christian community in this area (from which Quezon City emerged in 1939) was established in San Francisco del Monte. Almost five centuries ago, Fray Pedro Bautista built a home where the missionaries could find solitude and recharge their physical and spiritual vigor spent in bringing the Good News of Jesus Christ to the natives of the area. Consequently, the first church in Quezon City was built here in San Francisco del Monte.

Therefore, this area and their historical names are sacred to the civic and religious history of Quezon City because saints such as San Pedro Bautista and the early Franciscan missionaries stayed, prayed, reflected and served in San Francisco del Monte.

There is no doubt that FPJ has done great things for the movie industry. He can be honored via a street renamed after him, but please choose another street, like West Avenue or any other street that is not named after anybody, without any historical or religious significance, or constructed in its present state only after World War II. – FR. CIELO R. ALMAZAN, OFM, Minister Provincial, Order of Friars Minor, Province of San Pedro Bautista