Anda monument

It is sad to see the Anda Rotonda go. Here was a magnificent circle with enough open space to be a park, looking green under the sun, emerald in the rain, existing in the midst of traffic and congestion to show a better way of doing things. It was a welcome sight and a glimpse of felicity like open space, greenery and a legacy to be cherished and remembered. For the monument to Anda, who stood up to the British who came to these shores in illwill to plunder, a precious legacy was the norm of the times. And now the rotonda will be broken into pieces replaced by traffic lights for four streets or maybe just two. And the monument will be transferred to some obscure part of Intramuros, out of sight mostly. Is this the future we will face? Will the Quezon Memorial be undone, will Remedios Circle be reconfigured to smaller pieces, more concrete, diminished space? How mundane, banal and unimaginative. And ineffective for traffic and perilous for any monument as historical legacy that is there.

If this is a DPWH idea, it is a misbegotten one. Rotondas are traffic regulators with more amplitude for different directions than traffic lights. This means you are not curtailed to four directions but can have more - six, eight, etc. Washington DC has the Du Pont Circle which has proven its worth through time. London has the Piccadilly Circus (circus is another term for rotonda). Madrid has a distinctive number all over the inner city i.e. Cibeles, etc. Rotondas are used to access one’s chosen street in flowing traffic. Everyone slows down when entering a rotonda and maneuvers toward where he will get off. It is orderly, continuous and not time-consuming unlike waiting out traffic lights.