Calle Esperanza

About

“When the time comes that we realize that we have lost something so precious, only then can we get that something back..”

Calle Esperanza? It may or may not exist in reality but it does exist in the hearts of every Filipino- hidden under the recesses of our mind. It’s the street where our entire heritage, our rich Spanish past, lay pristine and preserved. It’s a street where bahay na bato’s populate the streets, and gigantic church spires dominate the skyline. It’s a world where the walls of Ciudad Murada (Intramuros) lay intact, untouched by the ravages of war.

Heritage. History. Past.

We tend to neglect these three simple things which eventually lead to it being erased from our consciousness. First we neglect and then we proceed to forget. Intramuros lies in shambles. The old institutions are gone. Squatter colonies populate these once hallowed walls. New structures rape its historic skyline. We have forgotten the heritage that we were born to and now it slowly rots in that corner of Manila, forever to be desolate, a shadow of what it once used to be.

But there is hope and that is what Calle Esperanza stands for. A street of hope, where our rich heritage will slowly unravel – for us to bring back what was once ours. When the time comes that we realize that we have lost something so precious, only then can we get that something back. So it’s time to bring this city of hope into reality, no more musing on what if? But only musing what can be brought back, yet again.

It’s time to paint Manila in a different light.

Senor Jose Joven Paulo Espinosa y Melendres was born on July 31 1985. Since his early childhood he had dreamed of the stories his Lola and Lolo told him about the great golden age of the Philippines. The stories of Ciudad Murada’s (Intramuros) great black walls, majestic churches and grand government offices lingered in his mind until he grew up and faced reality.

He found out that the stories that were once real in his mind were just fictions of a bygone era. Now he travels Manila again, trying to find some hope in reviving this grand dream that was once real. He is now taking up Law, yet he still dreams of someday walking the streets that his grandparents once roamed.

Calle Esperanza

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