Plaza Cervantes

File:Plaza Cervantes in 1910 from Calle Rosario.jpg

Plaza de Cervantes was originally called Plaza San Gabriel, named after the Misión San Gabriel, a mission of the Dominican Order which evangelised to the area's Chinese community. It later became Plaza Vivac as the area grew to become a commercial center, and later received its current name as it became the financial center of Manila.{{cite book | author=Rizal, José | author-link=José Rizal | title=The Reign of Greed (El Filibusterismo) | chapter=Smiles and Tears | translator=Charles Derbyshire | url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/10676/10676-h/10676-h.htm | page=254 | year=1912 | location=Manila | publisher=Philippine Education Company | accessdate=April 9, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190716202222/http://www.gutenberg.org/files/10676/10676-h/10676-h.htm | archive-date=July 16, 2019 | url-status=live }} The plaza was damaged in the 1863 Manila earthquake, where the ground reportedly opened and sulfuric fumes came out.{{cite news | author=Laya, Jaime C. | author-link=Jaime C. Laya | title=Manila 1870, seven years after the earth moved | url=https://lifestyle.mb.com.ph/2017/09/04/manila-1870-seven-years-after-the-earth-moved/ | work=Manila Bulletin | date=September 4, 2017 | accessdate=April 9, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190621205107/https://lifestyle.mb.com.ph/2017/09/04/manila-1870-seven-years-after-the-earth-moved/ | archive-date=June 21, 2019 | url-status=live }}

Originally covered with cobblestone,{{cite news | title=Atienza orders artifacts secured | url=https://www.philstar.com/metro/2006/12/19/375723/atienza-orders-artifacts-secured | work=The Philippine Star | publisher=PhilStar Daily, Inc. | date=December 19, 2006 | accessdate=April 9, 2020 }} by the early years of the American colonial period the plaza was dominated by low-rise commercial buildings, which author and Thomasite Paul T. Gilbert likened to a scene out of Othello or The Merchant of Venice.{{cite book | author=Gilbert, Paul T. | title=The Great White Tribe in Filipinia | chapter=All About the Town | url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/24897/24897-h/24897-h.htm | page=32 | year=1903 | location=Cincinnati | publisher=Jennings and Pye | accessdate=April 9, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191001060013/http://www.gutenberg.org/files/24897/24897-h/24897-h.htm | archive-date=October 1, 2019 | url-status=live }} In 1916, a monument was installed in the plaza to Tomás Pinpin, the first Filipino printer, although infrastructure improvements initiated by the colonial government led to businesses moving out of the plaza and to the nearby Plaza de Goiti (now Plaza Lacson) and Escolta Street.

While Binondo was largely spared from the Battle of Manila in 1945, and economic activity recovered thereafter, the area around the plaza started declining around the 1960s, when most business activity shifted from Manila to Makati and Cubao in Quezon City. With increased traffic congestion in the area, the monument to Tomás Pinpin was relocated to Plaza Calderón de la Barca (now Plaza San Lorenzo Ruiz) in 1979,{{cite web | title=The New Plaza San Lorenzo Ruiz | url=http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=64771 | work=The Historical Marker Database | accessdate=April 9, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130917194844/http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=64771 | archive-date=September 17, 2013 | url-status=live }} when the plaza was cleared to make room for more parking space.{{cite news | author=Alcazaren, Paulo | title=Plaza Lorenzo ruins?: We need a miracle to save Plaza Lorenzo Ruiz | url=http://www.philstar.com/modern-living/158788/plaza-lorenzo-ruins-we-need-miracle-save-plaza-lorenzo-ruiz | work=The Philippine Star | publisher=PhilStar Daily, Inc. | date=April 27, 2002 | accessdate=April 9, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170103013545/http://www.philstar.com/modern-living/158788/plaza-lorenzo-ruins-we-need-miracle-save-plaza-lorenzo-ruiz | archive-date=January 3, 2017 | url-status=live }}

In 2014, the Megaworld Corporation announced that it was going to redevelop and rehabilitate the plaza and its immediate area as part of the construction of a new condominium building, the 47-story Noble Place.{{cite news | title=Megaworld to rehabilitate Plaza Cervantes | url=https://manilastandard.net/real-estate/142825/megaworld-to-rehabilitate-plaza-cervantes.html | work=The Standard | date=March 14, 2014 | accessdate=April 9, 2020 }} A garden is expected to be installed once the rehabilitation is complete.{{cite news | author=Samaniego, Theresa S. | title=Breathing new life into Plaza Cervantes | url=https://business.inquirer.net/223683/breathing-new-life-plaza-cervantes | work=Philippine Daily Inquirer | date=January 28, 2017 | accessdate=April 9, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170127193733/https://business.inquirer.net/223683/breathing-new-life-plaza-cervantes | archive-date=January 27, 2017 | url-status=live }}

File:Mariano Uy-Chaco Building Exterior 01.jpg

Owing to its status as a financial center in its heyday, a number of notable buildings and structures have been built in and around the vicinity of Plaza de Cervantes, including some of Manila's tallest buildings at the time. The most notable building currently standing is the Mariano Uy Chaco Building, built in 1914 and said to be Manila's first skyscraper. Designed by American architect Samuel E. Rowell in the Art Nouveau style,{{cite web | author=De Guzman, Nicai | title=Neighborhood Guide: Escolta | url=https://www.spot.ph/things-to-do/the-latest-things-to-do/65587/neighborhood-guide-escolta-a125-20160318-lfrm | work=Spot.PH | publisher=Summit Media | date=March 18, 2016 | accessdate=April 9, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170831054048/http://www.spot.ph/things-to-do/the-latest-things-to-do/65587/neighborhood-guide-escolta-a125-20160318-lfrm | archive-date=August 31, 2017 | url-status=live }} and including a distinctive clock tower, it was the headquarters for Uy Chaco and Sons, a hardware company which imported goods from the United States for local distribution.{{cite magazine | author=Tumang, Adrian | title=These are 7 historic commercial landmarks you should know about | url=https://bluprint.onemega.com/ph-historic-commercial-landmarks/ | magazine=BluPrint | publisher=One Mega Group | date=December 10, 2018 | accessdate=April 9, 2020 }} Beside it is the Geronimo de los Reyes Building, also known as the Edificio A. Soriano. Designed by Juan Nakpil, the building later came to the ownership of industrialist Andrés Soriano, becoming the headquarters for his eponymous conglomerate and later buying out neighboring buildings for its expansion, with the expansions designed by Andrés Luna de San Pedro.{{cite journal | title=E. Vazquez Prada: He manages the new Mortgage Bank of the Philippines | journal=The American Chamber of Commerce Journal | pages=54–55 | url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/p/philamer/AAJ0523.1947.001?rgn=main;view=fulltext | year=1940 | location=Manila | publisher=American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines }} The building at the time also hosted the Franco-era Spanish consulate, owing to Soriano's Francoist sympathies,{{cite thesis | type=PhD | last=Rodao | first=Florentino | title=La Comunidad Española en Filipinas, 1935-1939 | trans-title=The Spanish Community in the Philippines, 1935-1939 | language=Spanish | url=https://eprints.ucm.es/23171/9/totalpdf12-S.pdf | publisher=University of Tokyo | isbn=978-84-617-0848-2 }} as well as the law firm Dewitt, Perkins, and Ponce-Enrile, where Alfonso Ponce Enrile, father of Juan Ponce Enrile, was a partner.{{cite news | author=Orteza, Bibeth | title=A life in the day of Juan Ponce Enrile | url=https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/151905/a-life-in-the-day-of-juan-ponce-enrile | work=Philippine Daily Inquirer | date=February 26, 2012 | accessdate=April 9, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303214304/http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/151905/a-life-in-the-day-of-juan-ponce-enrile | archive-date=March 3, 2016 | url-status=live }} Damaged in the Battle of Manila and subsequently restored,{{cite journal | author=Ronquillo, Bernardino | title=Manila Rises From The Ruins; Rebuilding Gets Started | journal=The American Chamber of Commerce Journal | pages=5–6 | url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/p/philamer/AAJ0523.1947.001?rgn=main;view=fulltext | year=1947 | location=Manila | publisher=American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines }} the building is presently abandoned.

File:0470jfSanta Cruz Escolta Binondo Streets Manila Landmarksfvf 05.JPG has had a continuous presence at Plaza de Cervantes since 1892, when it moved its headquarters here from Intramuros.]]

Across from the Mariano Uy Chaco Building on the corner with Plaza Moraga was the Insular Life Building, built on the site of a former Chinese cemetery and rising taller to become Manila's tallest pre-war structure.{{cite news | author=De Guzman, Nicai | title=9 Beautiful Heritage Buildings Manila Has Lost | url=https://www.esquiremag.ph/culture/9-beautiful-heritage-buildings-manila-has-lost-a1729-20170815-lfrm | work=Esquire Philippines | publisher=Summit Media | date=August 15, 2017 | accessdate=April 12, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200321074236/https://www.esquiremag.ph/culture/9-beautiful-heritage-buildings-manila-has-lost-a1729-20170815-lfrm | archive-date=March 21, 2020 | url-status=live }} Likewise designed by Andrés Luna de San Pedro, it was known for the distinctive eagle on its pinnacle.{{cite news | author=Cruz-Araneta, Gemma | author-link=Gemma Cruz-Araneta | title=S & D in Binondo | url=https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/05/30/s-d-in-binondo/ | work=Manila Bulletin | date=May 30, 2018 | accessdate=April 12, 2020 }} Originally built as the headquarters of the Insular Life Assurance Company, the Philippines' first own life insurance company, it also hosted the trading floor of the Philippine Stock Exchange,{{cite news | author=Fabonan III, Epi | title=Binondo rising | url=https://www.philstar.com/lifestyle/modern-living/2017/01/27/1666126/binondo-rising/ | work=The Philippine Star | date=January 27, 2017 | accessdate=April 12, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180921061628/https://www.philstar.com/lifestyle/modern-living/2017/01/27/1666126/binondo-rising | archive-date=September 21, 2018 | url-status=live }} as well as the studios of colonial-era radio station KZRM (now DZRB-AM).{{cite book | author=Fernandez, Erwin S. | title=The Diplomat-Scholar: A Biography of Leon Ma. Guerrero | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sJsnDwAAQBAJ&dq=insular+life+building+binondo+manila&pg=PA57 | page=57 | publisher=ISEAS Publishing | year=2017 | isbn=9789814762229 | accessdate=April 12, 2020 | via=Google Books }} Also damaged in the Battle of Manila and subsequently restored, the building was later demolished after Insular Life relocated to Makati in 1962.

Several financial institutions have also been located in Plaza de Cervantes at some point in their history. In 1892, the Banco Español-Filipino, now Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), relocated to 4 Plaza Cervantes from their first headquarters in Intramuros, the property being owned at the time by the Dominicans. BPI still maintains a branch today on the same site. Meanwhile, the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) established its first branch in the Philippines — the first foreign bank to do so — at the corner of the plaza and Calle Rosario on November 11, 1875, later moving to a new building on the other end of the plaza in 1922. Although HSBC moved out in 1971 in favor of moving to new offices in Makati, and the building was in a state of disrepair for several years thereafter, the building was restored and now houses the 1919 Grand Café.{{cite news | author=Reyes, Isidra | title=Binondo's heritage jewel has been transformed into a grand café | url=https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/spotlight/11/09/18/putting-the-purpose-in-repurpose | publisher=ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs | date=November 9, 2018 | accessdate=April 9, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200304112001/https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/spotlight/11/09/18/putting-the-purpose-in-repurpose | archive-date=March 4, 2020 | url-status=live }} Philtrust Bank, meanwhile, is the current owner of the Mariano Uy Chaco Building, maintaining a branch on the building's ground floor.

A number of government offices are also located in the plaza's vicinity. The National Archives maintains administrative offices behind the plaza at the Juan Luna Building at the corner of Juan Luna Street and the Muelle de la Industria, while the Land Management Bureau (LMB) formerly maintained its headquarters on the site of the former Insular Life Building. In 2018, both buildings, as well as the BPI building, were damaged in a fire that started in the LMB offices, causing ₱100 million worth of damage to equipment and destroying several important documents, including land titles, held in storage at the LMB.{{cite news | author=Rivas, Ralf | title=Land titles, P100 million worth of equipment gone in Binondo fire – DENR | url=https://www.rappler.com/nation/203523-binondo-fire-damage-denr-land-titles-equipment | work=Rappler | date=May 28, 2018 | accessdate=April 9, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181124220219/https://www.rappler.com/nation/203523-binondo-fire-damage-denr-land-titles-equipment | archive-date=November 24, 2018 | url-status=live }} The LMB has since relocated to a new headquarters along Quezon Avenue in Quezon City,{{cite news | author=Ruiz, Ellalyn de Vera | title=LMB opens new office in Quezon City | url=https://news.mb.com.ph/2019/03/21/lmb-opens-new-office-in-quezon-city/ | work=Manila Bulletin | date=March 21, 2019 | accessdate=April 10, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200410204250/https://news.mb.com.ph/2019/03/21/lmb-opens-new-office-in-quezon-city/ | archive-date=April 10, 2020 | url-status=live }} and the old headquarters remains abandoned.

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Cervantes

Category:Buildings and structures in Binondo