Rizal Park, Philippines
Rizal Park is considered as the premier park of the country and everybody knows that it is located in Manila. It is at the northern end of Roxas Boulevard, overlooking Manila Bay. The Rizal Park of Manila is divided into three sections that begin with the 16- hectare Agrifina Circle that adjoins the Taft Avenue, the 22-hectare park extends down to Roxas Boulevard and the 10- hectare open field across the Roxas Boulevard that fronts the Quirino Grandstand.
The park has a Chinese garden, an open-air theatre, a playground, a grandstand, and a long promenade adjacent to Manila Bay. Other areas include the Manila Zoological and Botanical Gardens, the Mehan Garden, and Paco Park. Athletic facilities include the Rizal Memorial Stadium and the Jai-Alai Fronton, both located in Manila.
It is a place where Filipinos can do what they love most and that is getting together as a family unit. On a Sunday, the park is full of people and Most of them just relaxing, picnicking, playing games on the expansive lawns and generally just enjoying each other’s company. Now if you are here early in the morning you will find joggers enjoying the early morning and people doing tai-chi.
Rizal Park’s history began in the early 1800s during the Spanish rule. While Manila’s social and business activities were confined within Intramuros, a small area just south of the walls was cleared to prevent sneak attacks from the patriotic natives. The area was shaped like a small moon (lunette) and thus was named Luneta. The Park was also called Bagumbayan in Spanish colonial era, and later known as Luneta.
Luneta has been the site of some of the most significant moments in Philippine history. Among them is the execution of Dr. Jose Rizal on December 30, 1896, whose martyred death made him a hero of the Philippine Revolution. It was officially renamed Rizal Park in tribute to him; the Declaration of Philippine Independence from American rule on June 4, 1946; and the political rallies of Ferdinand Marcos and Corazon Aquino in 1986.
Rizal Park, as we see it today is the product of years of dedicated and painstaking efforts by thousands of known and 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 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.
Now, Rizal Park is administered by the National Parks Development Committee an attached agency of the Department of Tourism. Funds for the improvements of parks are generated from government appropriations and donations from government and non government sectors.
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