Tomas Morato Avenue is a street located in
Quezon City
Quezon City (, ; fil, Lungsod Quezon ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read in Filipino as Kyusi), is the most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 2,960,048 people. It was fou ...
within the Diliman and New Manila areas of northeastern
Metro Manila
Metropolitan Manila (often shortened as Metro Manila; fil, Kalakhang Maynila), officially the National Capital Region (NCR; fil, link=no, Pambansang Punong Rehiyon), is the seat of government and one of three defined metropolitan areas in ...
, Philippines. The street links Eulogio Rodriguez Sr. Avenue in the village of Mariana in the south with Eugenio Lopez Drive (also known as Scout Albano Street) in South Triangle in the north, and passes through Barangays Sacred Heart, Laging Handa, Kamuning, Obrero, and Kristong Hari. It was named after the
first mayor of Quezon City.
The street is known as a trendy restaurant row located in Quezon City's entertainment area along with
Timog Avenue
Timog Avenue is a major road located in Quezon City within the Diliman area of northeastern Metro Manila, Philippines. It runs east–west through the southern edge of the barangay of South Triangle and is used to be named in English as South Av ...
and
West Avenue. It is also known for its bars, discos, karaoke and comedy clubs, and as a popular hangout for local actors who work in the nearby studios such as the
ABS-CBN Broadcasting Center
The ABS-CBN Broadcasting Center (also called ABS-CBN Broadcast Center; formerly known as Broadcast Plaza from 1974 to 1979 and current edifice formerly spelled officially as ABS-CBN Broadcasting Centre) in Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines is th ...
on Mother Ignacia Avenue and
GMA Network Center
The GMA Network Center is the headquarters and broadcast complex of the GMA Network, a major radio and television network in the Philippines. It is located at EDSA corner Timog Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City. It is the network's main television an ...
on
Timog Avenue
Timog Avenue is a major road located in Quezon City within the Diliman area of northeastern Metro Manila, Philippines. It runs east–west through the southern edge of the barangay of South Triangle and is used to be named in English as South Av ...
corner
EDSA
Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, commonly referred to by its acronym EDSA, is a limited-access circumferential highway around Manila, the capital city of the Philippines. It passes through 6 of Metro Manila's 17 local government units or citie ...
, as well as
millennials.
Route description
Tomas Morato Avenue runs in a north–south direction and has four lanes, two lanes going in each direction. Beginning at the intersection with Eulogio Rodriguez Sr. Avenue in New Manila, the road traverses barangay Kristong Hari and quickly enters the barangays Obrero and Kamuning in the district of Diliman towards the junction with
Kamuning Road
Kamuning Road is a short road located in Quezon City, Philippines. It is a road in a generally east–west orientation between the intersection with Epifanio de los Santos Avenue in Diliman and the junction with Tomas Morato Avenue in Diliman, Que ...
. Upon crossing the Don Alejandro Roces Avenue (former Calle Retiro), it enters the Scout areas, home to most of the street's famous restaurants and bars, where the road serves as the border between barangays Laging Handa and Sacred Heart up to the intersection with
Timog Avenue
Timog Avenue is a major road located in Quezon City within the Diliman area of northeastern Metro Manila, Philippines. It runs east–west through the southern edge of the barangay of South Triangle and is used to be named in English as South Av ...
. The streets in this area were named in honor of the 22
Boy Scouts
Boy Scouts may refer to:
* Boy Scout, a participant in the Boy Scout Movement.
* Scouting, also known as the Boy Scout Movement.
* An organisation in the Scouting Movement, although many of these organizations also have female members. There are ...
who died in a
plane crash
An aviation accident is defined by the Convention on International Civil Aviation Annex 13 as an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft, which takes place from the time any person boards the aircraft with the ''intention of fl ...
en route to joining the
11th World Scout Jamboree
The 11th World Scout Jamboree was held 1–11 August 1963 in Marathon, Greece.
Jamboree activities
The Jamboree Camp had 11 sub-camps for the participating Scouts and 5 sub-camps for administrative and technical personnel, and covered a total are ...
. A memorial stands at the center of the
rotunda at the intersection of Tomas Morato with Timog Avenue. Near the Scouting memorial is the location of the former Ozone disco. Past the memorial rotunda, the avenue enters barangay South Triangle, where it then ends at a T-intersection with Eugenio Lopez Drive by the
ELJ Communications Center
The Eugenio Lopez Junior Communications Center (also called 9501, ELJ Communications Center, or simply ELJ Center) is the headquarters of the media conglomerate ABS-CBN Corporation and its subsidiaries, and the television network of the same n ...
.
History
The street, which opened around 1940, was originally named Sampaloc Avenue. It was so named because of the prevalence of
tamarind
Tamarind (''Tamarindus indica'') is a leguminous tree bearing edible fruit that is probably indigenous to tropical Africa. The genus ''Tamarindus'' is monotypic, meaning that it contains only this species. It belongs to the family Fabaceae ...
(''sampaloc'') trees which lined the street in the early days. It is believed that the trees were planted by Tomas Morato himself along with President
Manuel Luis Quezon
Manuel Luis Quezon y Molina, (; 19 August 1878 – 1 August 1944), also known by his initials MLQ, was a Filipino lawyer, statesman, soldier and politician who served as president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines from 1935 until his de ...
and journalist
Alejandro Roces
Alejandro Reyes Roces (13 July 1924 – 23 May 2011) was a Filipino author, essayist, dramatist and a National Artist of the Philippines for literature. He served as Secretary of Education from 1962 to 1965, during the term of Philippine Presiden ...
.
According to the
Master Plan of Quezon City, it was planned to stretch between New Manila and a proposed park near the present-day intersection of
EDSA
Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, commonly referred to by its acronym EDSA, is a limited-access circumferential highway around Manila, the capital city of the Philippines. It passes through 6 of Metro Manila's 17 local government units or citie ...
and
Quezon Avenue
Manuel L. Quezon Avenue, more often called as Quezon Avenue, or simply Quezon Ave (pronounced: ''Ke-zon-Av''), is a major thoroughfare in Metro Manila named after President Manuel Luis Quezon, the second president of the Philippines. The a ...
at the National Government Center I. As of 2012, however, only two sampaloc trees remain, as they have been cut down over the years to make way for parking spaces.
In 1966, the avenue was renamed to honor Tomas Morato, the city's first mayor under whose term the road was constructed. By the 1990s, the street was transformed into a trendy hot spot with bars lining the street such as the popular Tia Maria's.
In 1996,
one of the deadliest nightclub fires occurred at the Ozone Disco Club on Tomas Morato and Timog Avenue. In 2003, the street underwent a major renovation with the sidewalk improved and railings installed along corners of the avenue to prevent double parking.
References
{{Road infrastructure in Manila
Streets in Quezon City
Restaurant districts and streets in the Philippines