ON a recent visit to Iloilo City and outlying towns, I was struck with how the local governments are maintaining their plazas which are parks, in the traditional way — open spaces, greenery and a gazebo in the center.
It was a heartwarming sight to see how in the late afternoon hours, large numbers of people would gather to commune with nature, with each other or have a little snack from puto and bibingka vendors who also congregate in the plazas at that time and not earlier.The plaza at Santa Barbara across the church had its pathways for walking, the gazebo at the center, a statue of Jose Rizal with three 'friends' identified as Marcelo H. del Pilar, Pedro Paterno and Graciano Lopez Jaena .
These statues come with robes and wigs. The life-size Last Supper grouping of statues was so lifelike you expected them to speak.In these towns, people go to church on foot. There is no conglomeration of cars seeking space around them. At most, there are tricycles. The plaza is across, and people walk into the church from there or from the street. In other words, there are no disrupting crowds. Or so it seems.