Take a quick tour around Quiapo and find out where you can find the cheapest deals -from exotic food, to clothes, from electronics to native products. Explore the four major streets of Quiapo map the stores and stalls offering a wide range of products that can only be found in the sprightliest cheap marketplace in the metro.
The Philippines is the second top producer and exporter of handicrafts in the world, next to India. Since the pre-colonial times, Filipinos have been deeply engrossed in the art of making crafts out of native materials. With over a million people involved in the handicrafts industry today, the Philippines exports woven products, wood carvings, and furniture made from local materials are exported to the United States, Canada, Australia, as well as some Asian countries. Perhaps the largest surviving handicrafts haven in the country is found in Quiapo. The ornaments section located under the Quezon Bridge consists of a series of stores selling handicrafts made mostly by different tribal communities in the South.
Blessie, long-time ornaments vendor in Quiapo, has witnessed the highs and lows of the Philippine handicrafts industry, which has resulted to ups and downs in her own life. After more than three decades of under the bridge, Blessie shares her inspiring story –a story that is shared by many other Filipinos who have devoted their lives to the preservation of our cultural heritage embedded in handicrafts. |
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The local government of Manila’s efforts to ban cytotec, better known as abortion pills or “pamparegla,” proves to be futile. Even the Catholic Church, which has long been condemning artificial methods of birth control, cannot counter the proliferation of these illegal substances. Despite threatening banners donning the walls of the Quiapo Church, stalls selling “pamparegla” sprout like mushrooms around the Church, at Plaza Miranda, and even in the Lacson underpass market.
A cytotec vendor who chose not to be identified says they are well aware of the risks but they cannot simply abandon the business, especially that they have a steady market. Married and teenage couples make up most of their buyers, she says, who purchase a bottle of “makabuhay” or “dahong mapait” for a cheap price of P30 to P50. A bottle of cytotec makes seven servings and lasts for a week. Most of the transactions around Quiapo start from subtle eye contact and whispered inquiries, according to the vendor. Business is liveliest on Fridays, the Quiapo Day, as multitudes of people visit the Church and the Nazarene. |