A Walk Tour in Manila | Paco Park

I received an unexpected cake from my biomates. That's so sweet of them to give me one and I thank them for that. It is my 19th birthday, I really am getting older.

But before I received that sweet little present, we just took our Animal Histology Laboratory Exam, it's our midterms week, extremely stressful. I certainly need a break. Perhaps a walk tour will detoxify my brain cells.


While on my way from the Pamantasan to SM City Manila, I saw the jeepney loading bay along A.Villegas Street bound to Pedro Gil Street. I know this will pass by the Paco Park, so wasted no time, hurriedly hopped into the jeep for this old cemetery.

"Para," I said to the driver when the walls of the park came to my sight. I reached the place by 3:30 PM. A nice old lady welcomed me at the ticket booth, the entrance to the park costs 5 pesos. Not bad for a little strolling experience.

According to Pinoy Travel Blog, this old cemetery, probably the oldest in the Philippines, was completed in 1820 by the artistic design of Nicolas Ruiz.  The dome of San Pancratius Chapel, clearly seen from the gates, is the tallest structure in the place. Inside the chapel is the remains of Governor General Ramon Solano.

As I entered the old gate, I saw a sign that reads: "beati mortui qui in domino moriuntur" which means "blessed are the dead who died in the Lord." According to some books, old cemetery gates have this Latin phrase at the entrance. 

Some thirty people were at the park that time, most were high school students. I turned right to a marker which remembers the three martyred priests. The GOMBURZA (fathers Gomez, Burgos and Zamora) were buried at this cemetery. Further right, is a stone stairway that leads to the top of the outer wall, a perfect spot to overlook the whole park. Ten minutes is enough to cover the whole outer wall.

I went next to the Rizal marker. Dr. Jose Rizal was secretly buried in this site after his execution in 1896. Exhumed by his mother in 1898, and finally laid beneath his monument at Luneta in 1912.


From the Rizal marker, I entered a tunnel through the inner wall, climb up the stone stairway beside the chapel and walked along the top of the inner wall, where a closer look to the central park is seen. It took me five minutes to completely walk the inner wall's circumference.

Small niches on the walls serve as tombs. It was featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not that remains were cached on these chambers for an annual rental fee. If the families fail to pay the fee, the remains were removed and burned.

At the center of the park, in front of the San Pancratius Chapel is a fountain. Old trees and colorful flowers are all over the place, adding some flavor. Songs of birds draw me closer to mother nature.

I was about to leave at around 4:20 PM when a bunch of men in black shirts arrived, carrying a grand piano. Another man, then posted at the gate an event happening at 6:00 PM. There will be a concerto, classic music of Beethoven and Bach. I wanted to stay but the sky is getting darker, not because of the setting sun but because of the nimbus clouds getting ready to pour down the rain. I have no umbrella with me so I left with little regrets.


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