A PARK IS THE MIRROR OF THE PEOPLE

          

         Rizal Park as we see it today is the product of years of painstaking work by thousands of unknown citizens who gave of their time and their labors to create something of beauty where there was nothing but yawning wilderness in the very heart of our premier city. Its continued cleanliness and order is a tribute to the people who use it more than to those who tend to it. Here is a park that is used, loved and nurtured by the people who saw it shape up from nothing. Few realize how Rizal Park symbolizes the neutral meeting ground of the national government and the government of the city of Manila. The President and the Mayor of Manila have had their differences off and on but they have never allowed Rizal Park to be part of that struggle for power. In a sense, city and national officials realize that Rizal Park is a people’s park, not a political arena for combat. Here, it is that the varied segments of our fragmented society coalesce and live in harmony, even if momentarily. Few realize that Rizal Park is the mirror of our national greatness. I have had a small part in this enterprise. I am proud of it. I am prouder of the public response to the idea of a neutral ground for public recreation and relaxation. It means that there is a natural hunger for peace that we find every day in the park. If we look back to the one single achievement of the past few years, we can point out the Rizal Park as the product of common endeavor. People enjoy the park because they know they own it. They know they built it. What’s more, they love it.

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