MANILA, Philippines—The city evokes many happy childhood memories, says Regina Roces-Paterno when asked why Manila remains close to her heart although she has been staying longer elsewhere.

Paterno, president of Arroceros Park caretaker Winner Foundation, grew up in Sta. Cruz, specifically Oroquieta Street, which, during her parents’ time, was considered a classy neighborhood where prominent families reside.

She, however, stayed there only until she got married to lawyer Manuel Paterno, who himself belongs to an old Manila clan of R. Hidalgo in Quiapo, at an early age of 18.

“Our neighborhood had seen better times during my time,” she lamented.

“But Manila was where I had the chance to really bond and spend time with my family, especially my parents.”

Paterno is the eldest of the four children of former Manila Vice Mayor Jesus Marcos Roces and Alice Villareal, daughter of former Supreme Court Justice Antonio Villareal.

Bonding with her parents meant going to the movies and “practically all forms of entertainment.”

“My mother was a great theater freak. I took after her, actually,” Paterno said, laughing, adding that until now, her love for movies has not waned.

Paterno said their house—a chalet—at the corner of Oroquieta and Lope de Vega Streets was a block away from Avenida Rizal, then the entertainment capital of Manila during the prewar and postwar years.

“The area was lined with moviehouses, many of which featured Hollywood films, because cinema was then the primary form of entertainment in the country,” she added.

She and her classmates watched films at Cine Ideal (pronounced the Spanish way Ee-de-ahl), where all the MGM films were exclusively shown, for free because it was owned by her paternal grandparents, Paterno said.

“But my other favorite was the Scala theater because it had a double movie feature; for a few pesos you get four hours of entertainment,” she added, smiling at the memory.

“We were all crazy for movies. Because of its (Avenida Rizal) proximity to our house, we watched almost every day, visiting one moviehouse after the other,” Paterno said. “There was Avenue Theater, Ever, Scala, State, among others.”

Paterno was also a regular patron at Dalisay Theater and Life Theater on Quezon Boulevard in Quiapo, which featured local films of her favorite stars like Nestor de Villa, Nida Blanca, Armando Goyena, and Gloria Romero.

Escaping war memories

Now in her 60s, Paterno said she felt that the theater business boomed at the time “because it was the people’s way of escaping the memories of war.”

But to date, most of the theaters in the area, many of which were designed by prominent Filipino architects, have since closed, demolished, or replaced by other structures.

The people’s flight to the suburbs, the proliferation of giant shopping centers, and the latest technology, including the emergence of DVDs, might have led to the downfall of these establishments as well as Avenida Rizal in general, she explained.

The eldest in a brood of four, Paterno recalled that she also regularly accompanied her mom at the Manila Grand Opera House, then the “ultimate” place for singers, dancers and stage players to perform.

“MGOH was just a walking distance from our house,” she said. “There we watched vaudeville, live musical and comedy shows, which were mostly slapstick. I remember watching Katy dela Cruz, Dolphy and Panchito, Bayani Casimiro, Pugo and Tugo, Tugak and Pugak, among many others.”

Today, a hotel stands at the original site of the opera house at the busy intersection of Rizal Avenue and Doroteo Jose.

Reliving the grandeur

Aptly called Manila Grand Opera Hotel, the new establishment tried to relive the grandeur that the premier live entertainment venue of Manila was well known for through a mural showing some of the events the opera house had hosted and personalities who performed there.

At the hotel’s entrance stands a historical marker about the inauguration of the first Philippine Assembly on Oct. 16, 1907, by United States Secretary of War William Howard Taft, an event that was also held at the old opera house.

“I’m glad I found this place,” she said during a recent visit.

At nighttime, Paterno and her dad usually took a stroll along Avenida Rizal to buy comics and magazines.

But Paterno considered a bookshop, which would later become the first National Bookstore in the area, her paradise.

“The owner, (NBS matriarch) Mrs. (Socorro) Ramos, we call her Aling Coring, used to sit on a high stool outside the shop, assisting her clients. She was very friendly and accommodating,” Paterno remembered.

Shopping destination

Her parents also often took her to the nearby Escolta, then Manila’s premier shopping destination, which catered mainly to the elite.

“But my mom would take me instead to Good Earth Emporium or to Henry Sy’s first Shoe Mart outlet in Avenida where shoes were a lot cheaper. She would only buy me shoes in Escolta once I started howling,” Paterno remembered, laughing.

She said she often saw Sy, then a young entrepreneur, supervising his shoe shop.

Among the establishments in Escolta reserved for the rich in Escolta included Heacock’s, Berg’s, Syvels, Oceanic Commercial and Rebuillida, among others. But Paterno’s favorite was the one located near Quiapo, the Aguinaldo’s Department Store.

“They always had the latest stuff from New York—balloon skirts, petticoats, flat shoes with matching bags,” she said.

The family went to different churches every Sunday, Paterno said, adding that it also allowed them to enjoy the food at Manila’s various popular restaurants.

“If we go to Sta. Cruz Church, we eat at Savory located at the foot of Jones Bridge at the tip of Escolta, or at Panciteria Moderna, See Kee Restaurant or Lido Restaurant at the nearby Chinatown area,” she said.

“If it’s Malate Church, then we eat at Milky Way ice cream parlor, which served the best ube ice cream and buko-nangka sherbet,” Paterno added. “If we’re in Quiapo, we always drop by at Vienna Bakery for its giant soft meringue in coffee and strawberry flavors, or at Little Quiapo for its halo-halo.”

She could not also forget the ritzy Botica Boie, a pharmacy in Escolta which served delicious sandwiches and milk shakes.

“I loved their chicken sandwich, but their chocolate ice cream soda and banana split were also good,” she recalled.

On weekends, it was Paterno’s turn to bond with her cousins and younger uncles in Luneta or at the seawall on Roxas Boulevard. “We just sat there, watched the sunset, and ate balut, simple pleasures.”

Paterno could not help but feel a bit nostalgic as she mentioned how the Manila she knew has changed through the years. “It comes with development, I guess,” she said.

But despite the changes, Paterno claimed she would never forget and would always feel pride for the city of her affections.