Santa Ana is a district in the
City of Manila,
Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
. It is located on the city's southeast, bordering the cities of
Mandaluyong
Mandaluyong ( ; ), officially the City of Mandaluyong (, ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly-urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a popula ...
and
Makati
Makati ( ; ), officially the City of Makati (), is a highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines, known for being one of the leading financial centers in the country. As of 2013, the city has the highest concent ...
in the east, the city districts of
Paco and
Pandacan in the west, and
Santa Mesa in the north. It is part of the
6th congressional district of Manila, with thirty-five
barangays
The barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as ''barrio'', is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines. Named after the precolonial polities of the same name, modern barangays are political subdivisio ...
. Based on the 2020 national census, the
Philippine Statistics Authority
The Philippine Statistics Authority (; PSA) is the central statistical authority of the Philippine government that collects, compiles, analyzes, and publishes statistical information on economic, social, demographic, political affairs, and gene ...
reported that the district had a population of 203,598.
Etymology
When the
Catholic missionaries
Missionary work of the Catholic Church has often been undertaken outside the geographically defined parishes and dioceses by religious orders who have people and material resources to spare, and some of which specialized in missions. Eventually, p ...
asked the natives the name of the area, they pointed to the banks of the Pasig River. The locals responded with "sapa" or the
Tagalog word for
marshes, thinking they were referring to the terrain instead of the place name.
The
Franciscan
The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...
missionaries henceforth dedicated the district to
Saint Anne
According to apocrypha, as well as Christianity, Christian and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary, the wife of Joachim and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the Bible's Gosp ...
, the mother of the Blessed
Virgin Mary
Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...
, and called it ''Santa Ana de Sapa'' ("Saint Anne of the Marshes"). The first part, Santa Ana, is
Spanish for such saint.
History
The original name of Santa Ana before the arrival of the
Spanish conquistadors
Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...
was Sapa, a territory ruled by the polity of
Namayan
Namayan (Baybayin: Pre-Kudlit: or (''Sapa''), Post-Kudlit: ), also called SapaLocsin, Leandro V. and Cecilia Y. Locsin. 1967. ''Oriental Ceramics Discovered in the Philippines.'' Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle Company. and sometimes Lamayan, ...
, a small settlement whose last recorded rulers were Lakantagkan, and his wife Buwan ("moon"). The kingdom’s domain stretched from what is now
Mandaluyong
Mandaluyong ( ; ), officially the City of Mandaluyong (, ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly-urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a popula ...
,
Makati
Makati ( ; ), officially the City of Makati (), is a highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines, known for being one of the leading financial centers in the country. As of 2013, the city has the highest concent ...
,
Pasay
Pasay, officially the City of Pasay (; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 Philippine census, 2020 census, it has a ...
, and the Manila districts of
Pandacan and
Paco.
The Spaniards established settlements under the jurisdiction of Santa Ana, with the area awarded to the
Franciscan
The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...
missionaries. They were the first to establish a mission beyond the walls of Intramuros, the Spanish colonial seat of power in Manila, in 1578. The church as it stands today was first built in 1720 and is known as the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Abandoned (Nuestra Señora de los Desamparados).
Edmund Roberts visited Santa Ana in 1832, writing about it in his travelogue, ''Embassy to the Eastern Courts of Cochin-China, Siam, and Muscat''.
Barangays
Santa Ana is divided into 35 barangays.
Attractions
The Parish of Our Lady of the Abandoned of Sta.Ana (Nuestra Señora de los Desamparados de Sta.Ana)
The Church of Santa Ana stands on the site of the first Franciscan mission established outside Manila in 1578. The church was built under the supervision of Fr. Vicente Ingles, OFM. The cornerstone of the present church was laid on September 12, 1720 by Francisco dela Cuesta, then Archbishop of Manila and Acting Governor General of the Philippines.
in the early 1700s, Father Vicente went to Valencia, Spain. The friar had been very enamored of a famous image of Our Lady that had become a big spiritual attraction in Valencia. The image is now known as “Our Lady of the Abandoned” (in Spanish, Nuestra Señora de los Desamparados).While Father Vicente was in Valencia, in the year 1713 he decided to have a copy made of this image—venerated in Valencia with so much devotion—for Santa Ana Parish, which was in the process of being constructed near Manila. After reverently touching the copy to the original image, the friar brought the new replica image with him to the Philippines in 1717. The image has been venerated in Santa Ana for almost 300 years. In time, the parish became known as Our Lady of the Abandoned Parish, as it is today. But St. Ann, the original patron of the parish, has not been forgotten. Today, a statue of St. Ann with the child Mary at her side still stands in a niche directly above the exquisite image of Our Lady of the Abandoned that Father Vicente brought from Valencia.
Through community-based heritage tourism, the Lola Grande Foundation and Fundacion Santiago, Sta. Ana Manila was declared as a heritage site. This means that one cannot alter or demolish any structure in the area without securing consent from Gemma Cruz Araneta (former Ms. International), Sylvia Lichauco and the Fundacion Santiago. All three must consent before securing any permits since they have the power to revoke permits. They prohibit any business from setting up in the area. Moreover, it is highly discouraged for anyone to buy a house within the heritage zone since one does not have a right to alter the property.
Lichauco Heritage House
The Lichauco House was declared a heritage house and was open to public for viewing. Any school or organization intending to visit the house may do since it operates on public funding. Built in the 1850s–1860s, damaged in World War II, rebuilt in 1946, and declared a heritage house in 2010, the residence is open to the public from 8AM–5PM with minimal charges and donations encouraged.
Pascual Modernist House
The Pascual House is located in 2138 Dr. M.L. Carreon Street. Like a number of older, prominent houses in the district, this house enjoys the view of the nearby Pasig River which is located on the east, as well as the Estero de Pandacan farther up on the northeast.
The Pascual House is a modernist style house built in April 1948. Currently the house is occupied by its second owner, Rodolfo C. Pascual who bought the property in 1984. Originally the house was owned by Alejandro Velo. According to Pascual, the house was sometimes used as a shooting area for movies during the 1950s.
The breeze coming from the Pasig River, as well as the river being the main route for water travel around Manila, resulted in the siting of the houses of wealthy and prominent families during the Spanish period. These riverside vacation houses had verandas and wide opening to frame the river views as well as catch the breeze.
After the Second World War, the district fell into disarray, becoming a tightly-packed residential district. Eventually the old district for vacation houses was mixed with other architectural styles, which eventually decayed through the years and are now being demolished to give way to modern developments.
The Pascual House was built in the modernist style of architecture. Method of construction is a mixture of reinforced concrete, masonry and wood. Notable feature of the exterior are the 3 reinforced concrete pylons on the façade of the house. The ''mirador'' or watchtower is also a notable feature of the exterior that adorns the corner mass of the whole house. Vertical and horizontal design elements complement the whole massing of the house. On the interiors, notable features are the built-in cabinetry, niches and the cove ceilings. All are in stylized geometric form. Granolithic flooring can still be found on the first 3 steps of the stairs and main entrance steps. The whole ground floor is covered in “Machuca” tiles. On the second floor, geometric stylized ventilation panels with the initials of the original owner (AV) embellish the wall partitions. Plumbing fixtures are all original from the 1940s.
Notable people
*
Panday Pira
Panday Pira ( Kapampángan: ''Pandeng Pira''; c. 1488–1576) was a Filipino kapampángan blacksmith His name's literal translation is "Blacksmith Pira", ''panday'' being the Tagalog word for "blacksmith".
Panday Pira was a native of the south ...
— blacksmith
*
Mike Enriquez — broadcast journalist and television presenter
*
Lydia Yu-Jose — political science professor
*
Pilar Manalo Danao — the first head choir director of the Iglesia ni Cristo
References
Sources
*"By Sword and Fire: The Destruction of Manila in World War II, 3 February-3 March 1945" by Alphonso J. Aluit (1994) Bookmark, Inc. © 1994 National Commission for Culture and the Arts ISBN 971-569-162-5
{{Declared cultural properties of the Philippines, state=collapsed
Districts of Manila