a blue manila bay

I found this old photo in an e-mail and was pretty impressed by it. It's a capture of Roxas Boulevard taken some time in the 60's (it was then known as Dewey). It's quite refreshing to see evidence that those waters I've known to be black, murky and reeking used to be crystalline-blue.


I've heard old timers' stories of how the water there was so clean, it was safe to go swimming. I never imagined it to be a beach in the city.

No traffic, no vendors, no pollutants. No baywalk, no beerhouses, no obstentatious street lights.

I'd really rather not dwell too much on the fact how the environment was practically murdered in the past fifty years, but Id prefer to just admire that breathtaking view. May ganyan pala sa Manila noon.