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Paco Park and its care was placed under the responsibility of the National Park’s Development Committee (NPDC) during the regime of President [[Ferdinand E. Marcos]]. |
Paco Park and its care was placed under the responsibility of the National Park’s Development Committee (NPDC) during the regime of President [[Ferdinand E. Marcos]]. |
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During the Marcos period, through the efforts of former First Lady [[Imelda |
During the Marcos period, through the efforts of former First Lady [[Imelda Marcos]], culture was given emphasis and priority in the country. |
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On [[February 29]], [[1980]], then Press and Cultural Attache of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of [[Germany]] in the Philippines, Dr. Christoph Jessen with then NPDC Vice-Chairperson [[Teodoro Valencia]] started a classical concert within Paco Park as part of the celebrations for the “Philippine-German Month,” and the program became a tradition, a weekly fare held every Friday afternoons and called the, “Paco Park Presents.” |
On [[February 29]], [[1980]], then Press and Cultural Attache of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of [[Germany]] in the Philippines, Dr. Christoph Jessen with then NPDC Vice-Chairperson [[Teodoro Valencia]] started a classical concert within Paco Park as part of the celebrations for the “Philippine-German Month,” and the program became a tradition, a weekly fare held every Friday afternoons and called the, “Paco Park Presents.” |
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Paco Park is a 4,500 square yard recreational area and was once Manila’s municipal cemetery and it is located along General Luna St. and at east end of Padre Faura Street in Paco district in the City of Manila, the Philippines.
Paco Park was originally planned as a municipal cemetery for the well-off and established families who resided in the old Manila, or the city within the walls of Intramuros during the Spanish colonial era.
Most of the wealthy families interred the remains of their loved ones inside the municipal cemetery in what was once the district of Dilao (former name for Paco). The cemetery was built in the late 1700s but was completed several decades later and in 1822, the cemetery was used to inter victims of a cholera epidemic that swept across the city.
The cemetery is circular in shape, with an inner fort that was the original cemetery and with the niches were placed located within the hollow walls. As the populations continued to grow, a second outer wall was built with the thick adobe walls were hollowed as niches and the top of the walls were made into pathways for promenades.
A Roman Catholic chapel was built inside the walls of the Paco Park and it was dedicated to Saint Pancratius.
On December 30, 1896, Philippine national hero Dr. Jose P. Rizal was interred at Paco Park after his execution at Bagumbayan.
During the 1920s, burial at the Paco Park ceased and it was converted into a park. Several generations after the place was used as a cemetery, descendants of those who were buried in the park had the remains of their relatives transferred.
During the Second World War, Japanese forces used Paco Park as a central supply and ammunition depot. The high thick adobe walls around the park was ideal for defensive positions of the Japanese.
The Japanese just before the liberation of Manila in 1945, dug several trenches and pill boxes around and within the Park with three 75 millimeter guns to defend their fortification against the charging 148th Infantry Regiment of the 1st Battalion of the United States Army.
Paco Park’s grandeur was restored after the war and since then has remained as a public park and promenade for many teen age sweethearts who could spend quiet moments along the park’s benches and private alcoves.
Paco Park and its care was placed under the responsibility of the National Park’s Development Committee (NPDC) during the regime of President Ferdinand E. Marcos.
During the Marcos period, through the efforts of former First Lady Imelda Marcos, culture was given emphasis and priority in the country.
OnFebruary 29, 1980, then Press and Cultural Attache of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in the Philippines, Dr. Christoph Jessen with then NPDC Vice-Chairperson Teodoro Valencia started a classical concert within Paco Park as part of the celebrations for the “Philippine-German Month,” and the program became a tradition, a weekly fare held every Friday afternoons and called the, “Paco Park Presents.”
This event featured and highlighted the exchange of Filipino and German musical artists who performed at Paco Park and it served as a means to strengthen the bond between Germany and the Philippines.
In1998, the celebration of Philippine-German month was moved from February to March, with the concert starting at 7:00 P.M. But Paco Park Presents continues to celebrate its anniversary every February.
